The DA leadership in KwaZulu-Natal wants the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, to intervene in the case of the killing of an activist who was going to run for councillors, Mr Lungani Xaba.
Xaba was buried on Sunday, in Paphase, KwaHlabisa.
He was attacked by people in his home, and they shot him last night. It is said that he was already ill when he was attacked.
A member of the DA KwaZulu-Natal executive committee, Mr Swelakhe Shelembe, said they wanted Mkhwanazi to intervene in this case.
“We will speak to our representatives in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature and ask them to talk to Mkhwanazi. We want him to resolve this issue.”
Shelembe said they want to investigate other cases of murder reported at the Hlabisa police station.
“What we find is that in the last month more than 10 murder cases have been reported.”
Shelembe said that what worries them the most is that the police did not act when they were informed of Xaba’s death. He said the police arrived three days later.
“This makes us not trust the police and their work. We feel that they are seeing the killing of people as a normal thing.”
Shelembe said Xaba was nominated to represent the DA in the November local government elections.
He said he had no doubt that Xaba would have won the election because of the contributions he had made to the community.
“The people who killed Xaba deprived the community of a person who was a leader, who put the needs of the community first and then he came behind. They deprived the people of Phapassa of the opportunity to have an honest leader as we look towards the November 4 election. We have no doubt that the community would support him as he had been nominated according to the internal DA system that he is one of the people who would represent us in the election.
“He was going to fight for the needs of the community. All of that has disappeared because of people who are criminals, cowards, and criminals, who have robbed us of this great opportunity. But we will say that the public should not continue to fight for those in charge of the government to continue to provide services to the people.”
Shelembe said that Xaba was planning a protest to cry about the demands that would go to the offices of the KwaHlabisa Municipality.
“For a long time, this community has not benefited from the needs it should not be receiving. There are no roads here, there is no bridge. When it rains, children do not go to school, workers do not go to work. They cannot cross because there is no bridge.”