Double tragedy hits family of slain member of the ANC
Supporter saved the lives of her siblings by asking them to stay at home
When 34-year-old Ncamsile Shange insisted that her siblings remain behind, little did she know that she was sparring their lives from being mercilessly wiped out by gun-wielding assassins.
Shange’s young life was snuffed out when unidentified heavily armed gunmen opened fire at an ANC meeting, which was convened to elect ward candidates for the 2021 municipal elections under ethekwini metro ward 54 covering Inanda area, south of Durban.
As terrified community members ran for cover, Shange and two other women were struck dead by stray bullets.
The callous killing on Saturday August 11 at around 5pm took place in in front of a local school Buhle Bethu Primary.
Relaying the family’s anguish to Sunday World, Shange’s aunt Zandile Shabangu said she learnt of her niece’s brutal slaying through social media posts when the video footage of the killing went viral a few minutes after the attack.
“The plan was that we were going to attend the meeting together but she [Ncamsile] suggested that we stay behind because her elder son was not feeling well. That was the last conversation we had. It was less than an hour after she left when I suddenly heard a loud noise from the neighbours calling for my name. I immediately went outside and that’s when they showed me the gruesome video footage,” says an emotionally wrecked Shabangu, describing how she got the news of her niece’s tragic death. The untimely death of Shange is a double blow for the family, who did not only lose their sole breadwinner but are now left with a mammoth task of looking after her three children aged eight, 13 and her 18-year-old son who is paralysed and needs specialised care after injuries he sustained during the Phoenix killings in July. An elderly woman, 75-year-old Beatrice Dlamini and Philisiwe Jili, 29, also died in what is widely believed to have been an orchestrated plan to instil fear within community members. At the heart of the schism is the ANC chaotic nomination process, which has been met with hostility.
The governing party in the province is currently dealing with more than 700 disputes from disgruntled party members.
A provincial appeals committee, headed by party veteran and former MEC for agriculture Cyril Xaba, is tasked with investigating the grievances.
Phelelani Dlamini, an ANC activist, said: “We had raised several concerns with the provincial leadership that the nomination process will eventually lead to lives being lost.”
Sunday World has also established that following the killings, the five candidates whose names had been put forward have gone into hiding fearing for their lives.