Durban – Slain KwaZulu-Natal councillor Makhosonke Msibi was a “visionary and hard-working” leader, the ANC said on Monday.

“Comrade Msibi, 48, was one of the comrades who recruited thousands of members for the ANC in Ulundi since he joined our movement.

“We have lost a person who ensured that the ANC was on course to emerge as the dominant force in the area generally and in particular at the next election in Nongoma,” said provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala.

Msibi was the branch chairman of the ANC in Ulundi. He was shot dead on Sunday.

KwaZulu-Natal police said a man shot him several times at his home.

“We can confirm that an ANC councillor was shot dead at his home on Sunday at 7pm,” Lt-Col Vincent Mdunge said.

He said a man knocked at the door soon after the councillor had returned home from a meeting in Nongoma. His son opened the door and a man asked to see the councillor.

“The man fired shots at him when he emerged. He tried to run into his bedroom but it was too late… he suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.”

He said the motive for the shooting was not known and no arrest had been made. A case of murder was opened.

Zikalala said political killings were an indication of political bankruptcy and immaturity among those who had been rejected by the people of the province.

“The perpetrators should learn from history. These acts simply serve to make us even more determined to entrench full democracy and free political activity throughout KwaZulu-Natal.”

He said Msibi was shot dead barely hours after he had returned from a ceremony welcoming hundreds of new members from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the National Freedom Party (NFP) in Nongoma.

KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance MEC Nomusa Dube said she was saddened by the councillor’s murder.

“We are deeply saddened by the brutal killing of one of the committed and tireless servants in the field of local government in the province,” she said in a statement.

“We do not know the cause and the motive. We are, however, worried that the killing of councillors is becoming a disturbing trend, noting that it is not happening for the first time,” she said.

“If this cowardly use of violence was carried out with the intention to subvert the will of the people it will not succeed.”

Zululand District Municipality mayor and NFP president Zanele KaMagwaza-Msibi called on police to arrest those involved in the killing of Msibi.

“I call on police to investigate and arrest the perpetrators, as we do not want our province to be involved in political violence once again. It is worrying when political leaders are getting killed especially when electioneering intensifies.”

KaMagwaza-Msibi is not related to the slain councillor.

She also called for political tolerance in the area ahead of the national elections next year.

“I call on the people of Zululand to practice political tolerance as the 2014 elections campaign intensifies… We know the terrible pain that came with political violence and we don’t want our province to experience that painful past again,” she said.

The ANC Youth League said Msibi’s death was a great loss to the people of Ulundi and the ANC.

“To us, comrade Msibi was not only a leader, but also a father, and for him to be gunned down in a senseless manner like this in his home where he was supposed to be safe is really disheartening,” said Nontembeko Boyce, convenor of the provincial task team.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions said it was shocked and angered at the murder of Msibi.

“The use of murder, and issuing death threats, to resolve political disputes is absolutely repulsive and a grave threat to our democracy,” said spokesman Patrick Craven.

“The practice (political killings) must be stamped out, and the maximum sentences imposed on all those found guilty.”

Sapa

Johannesburg – Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane should give clarity on the future of provincial police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, the DA said on Monday.

Democratic Alliance MPL Kate Lorimer said Petros’s contract would expire on August 15.

“The premier must indicate whether the executive has been consulted, and explain the delays in clarifying the future of this position,” she said.

Earlier this month, police spokesman Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale said national police commissioner Riah Phiyega was handling the matter.

“Lt-General Petros and the national commissioner General Riah Phiyega are in discussions about his contract and other matters… Phiyega will make an announcement in this regard in the near future,” said Makgale.

Lorimer said an update was needed on what was happening.

“If the premier and… Phiyega are at loggerheads over Gauteng’s top cop, we deserve to know,” she said.

Lorimer said the uncertainty surrounding Petros’s contract did not help the fight against crime, or the morale of the police service in the province.

Mokonyane’s spokesman Thebe Mohatle said he could not immediately comment on the matter.

“Any matter pertaining to that will be duly communicated when the time is right,” he said.

Petros served as provincial commissioner of the Western Cape for seven years and has held his current position in Gauteng for almost three years.

Sapa

Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal – Six people appeared in the Inkanyezi District Court in Eshowe on Monday following a fire that left five people dead, the National Prosecuting Authority in KwaZulu-Natal said.

The matter was postponed to August 21, when they were expected to apply for bail, spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson said.

During their last court appearance in July, Lucky Nzuza, 30, Khiswa Nzuza, 33, Samkelo Mhlongo, 25, Nkanyiso Magwaza, 28, Tholithemba Shandu, 25, and Sibusiso Mkwanyana, 36, told the court they needed legal aid.

A seventh person, a minor, had also been arrested and would appear in court separately.

The six men and the child face five murder charges, three of attempted murder, one of arson, and one of malicious damage to property. They allegedly set fire to four houses in a homestead in the Mbongolwane area in July.

Thulisile Mnyango, 50, Cebile Mnyango, 21, Lungelo Mnyango, 17, Mlamuli Mnyango, 10, and two-year-old Qiniso Mnyango, died in one of the houses.

Three people escaped the blaze. Two cows were also found stabbed to death.

Sapa

Cape Town – A man accused of killing and dismembering a teenage girl appeared in the Blue Downs District Court on Monday afternoon.

Johannes Christiaan de Jager, 48, wearing a blue fleece top and jeans, was told his case was being transferred to the Western Cape High Court.

He applied for legal aid because he could no longer pay his lawyer.

His case was postponed until September 13, for a pre-trial conference in the high court. His trial was set down for October 7 to 31.
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Mahwelereng, Limpopo – An alleged serial rapist appeared in the Mahwelereng Magistrate’s Court on Monday, said Limpopo police.

Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the matter was postponed to August 20.

“He is remanded in custody and will be applying for bail at his next appearance,” he said.

The 42-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, after being linked to 12 cases of rape through DNA tests.

He allegedly killed three of his rape victims.

“We had particular suspects that we targeted and we got the DNA from them. The DNA pointed to this particular man,” said Mulaudzi.

The alleged serial rapist operated around the Mahwelereng villages between 2002 and 2012.

He reportedly dragged his victims to nearby bushes where he raped them.

“In other cases he would allegedly break into the houses of the victims and rape them before bolting away,” said Mulaudzi.

The man faces charges of rape and murder.

Sapa

Durban – Five men have been arrested for allegedly killing an elderly man in Bulwer in KwaZulu-Natal and stuffing his body in the boot of his car, police said on Monday.

Michael John Poval, 81, was found on Sunday at 11.30pm by his relatives. He had an open wound in his back.

“It is believed that on Saturday, the victim, who lives alone, was confronted by a group of suspects at his home where he was stabbed before his body was stuffed into the boot of his car,” spokesman Thulani Zwane said in a statement.

The wound was believed to have been inflicted by a sharp instrument.

The attackers took the victim’s money box containing cash and fled in his other car.

The body was found on Sunday, after a friend – who delivered food for him on Saturday – found the house door open, but left the food without seeing Poval.

“On returning to the house on Sunday, she found the door still open and the food where she had left it. She contacted Poval’s relatives, who discovered his body in a (boot) of his car,” Zwane said.

“They also noticed that his white Volkswagen Jetta and money box containing a large amount of cash had been stolen. They called the police.”

While investigating the crime, police spotted the missing car, with five occupants, travelling along the Edendale main road towards Pietermaritzburg and gave chase, he said.

The vehicle was cornered and all the occupants were arrested and the cash recovered.

The suspects, aged between 17 and 35, would appear in the Hlanganani Magistrate’s Court soon on charges of murder and robbery.

Sapa

Rustenburg – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) expressed outrage at the murder of one of its shop stewards at Lonmin’s Rowland shaft, near Rustenburg, on Monday.

“(We are) disappointed that amid the increasing assassinations in Marikana and the broader Rustenburg area, there has not been any progress with regard to the arrest and prosecutions of the suspects,” spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said in a statement.

“While many of the suspects are known to the police, none has been arrested or prosecuted.”

The union said a woman shop steward was shot and killed while walking to the NUM office. North West police confirmed that a woman was shot and killed at the shaft.

Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said police could not immediately confirm that the victim was a NUM shop steward. Police were still attending to the crime scene, he said.

Seshoka said the union was disappointed in Lonmin. The company had instructed shop stewards to return to work even though the NUM cautioned that it was not safe.

“The union is concerned that the company’s pre-occupation with profits and the police incompetence may lead to a serious bloodbath in Rustenburg,” he said.

Comment from Lonmin was not immediately available.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions said it was tragic that the murder happened days before the August 16 Marikana shooting anniversary.

“We see yet more evidence that violence remains endemic in the Rustenburg area,” spokesman Patrick Craven said in a statement.

“This latest atrocity demonstrates that the framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry, signed by organised labour… organised business, and government on 3 July 2013 is simply not being effectively implemented.”

On August 16 last year, 34 miners were shot dead and 78 were wounded when police fired on them while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed in strike-related violence.

The framework agreement was aimed at resolving issues like strikes and violence bedevilling the mining industry, especially in the Rustenburg platinum belt.

Sapa

Durban – The ANC branch chairman in Ulundi, Makhosonke Msibi, was shot dead in front of his family on Sunday night when a gunman entered his home and fired shots.

Police spokesman Colonel Vincent Mdunge said the motive was not known at this stage and that no arrests had been made.

He said a man knocked at the door soon after the councillor returned home from a meeting in Nongoma. His son opened the door and a man asked to see the councillor.

“The man fired shots at him when he emerged.

“He tried to run into his bedroom but it was too late… he suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.”
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Durban – Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says he has accepted the censure of Corruption Watch over a well-publicised sexual relationship he had with a married, 26-year-old subordinate.

“I have accepted that censure, humiliating as that may be. I am not above the discipline of our organisations,” Vavi said at a Cosatu meeting in East London.
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Cape Town – A security camera set up on a popular mountain biking and running route on Table Mountain to watch for muggers has disappeared.

The camera, a wireless unit operating by cellphone signal, disappeared in the past two weeks after it ran out of airtime and had no signal, said Robert Vogel of cycling club Table Mountain Bikers, which put it up.
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