KZN violence warning

Fear reigns among comrades

AKWAZULU- NATAL violence monitor has warned that the province might be on the brink of yet another wave of political violence before the ANC elective conference.

Speaking in the wake of another killing of a councillor in oPhongolo on Saturday, Mary De Haas said there appeared to be a lot of fear within the ranks of the ANC.

She also cast doubt on the commission of inquiry set up to investigate political killings.

“What really worries me is that there is a lot of potential for violence in the run-up to the ANC conference. You have clear groupings (in the ANC) and these have their followers,” she said.

“There’s a lot of fear, a fear of their own comrades,” De Haas said.

She was, however, quick to point out that her statements did not mean the political killings of ANC members were carried out as part of the ruling party conference.

De Haas made the comment a day after Mbhekiseni “Pat” Khumalo was killed at his homestead by an unknown assailant.

Khumalo’s killing has sparked an outrage from the ANC and KwaZulu-Natal government, which dubbed it a “well-orchestrated” killing of the ruling party’s councillors.

KwaZulu-Natal experienced more than 10 politically-related killings before the municipal elections, with many of the victims coming from the ranks of the ANC.

This had prompted Premier Willies Mchunu to establish a commission of inquiry into political killings dating back to 2011.

The commission is only expected to begin its work next month, according to provincial government spokesman Ndabezinhle Sibiya.

Sibiya said the commission was finalising logistics for venues and dealing with issues of witness protection.

De Haas said the ongoing killing of councillors following the August 3 elections was cause for concern.

“I’m really worried about the increasing levels of violence,” she said, explaining it was expected the killings would have subsided by now.

In the build-up to the elections, there were tensions in the ANC over the nomination of councillors. Some of its members, especially those aligned to the SACP, had complained about being marginalised in the nomination processes and decried alleged imposition of candidates against the wishes of communities.

But this time around tensions may flare up as branches may be locked up in nominations for their preferred candidates.

KZN is likely to go to the conference a no longer united force as there are indications there may be more than one candidate from different factions in the province vying for the top six posts .

AU chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is being pushed by one such faction amid reports that treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize was a preferred candidate for the deputy president position with Cyril Ramaphosa as president of the ANC.

Asked if the killing of councillors could be “well-orchestrated” as claimed by the ANC and KZN government, De Haas said it was difficult to say so.

“Some of it, like at Harding, appeared to be intra-ANC. It’s not clear, but in the past there has been fierce competition between the IFP and ANC, but we don’t know the local dynamics,” she said.

However, De Haas said political violence was difficult to separate from business interests and the taxi industry.

“It’s difficult to separate politics and other dynamics. My worry is the use of hitmen. There is a huge potential for violence.”

Referring to the oPhongolo killing, she said: “The question to ask is did the ANC win with a big margin? Within the ANC will it give other factions a chance for their candidate?”

De Haas said the commission of inquiry was just a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.

“The point is we have the police that should have solved the killings. For a commission, you have got to give evidence and a lot of people are scared to go to a commission to expose themselves.”

She also said the reports of the commissions were often never released in KwaZuluNatal.

She was referring to the inquiry into the Shobashobane massacre, taxi violence and policing.

“If the police can’t deal with the killings, what hope is there for the commission?” De Haas asked.

She added that the problem in the province’s policing was poor intelligence services, among others.

“Crime intelligence is dysfunctional in the province. The detective services, they have good detectives but many are caught up in local dynamics. In Glebelands, there have been arrests but not convictions.

De Haas said what was needed to quell the political violence was to bring in police from other provinces to conduct the investigations.

“Local police have failed hopelessly. Please, can we have national investigators because local police are too caught up in local politics?” she said.

Acting ANC spokesperson Nomagugu Simelane- Zulu, said the suggestion that the province could be on brink of violence because of ANC conference was an “alarmist approach” by analysts.

“There is no evidence that the killings are by ANC members against ANC members,” Simelane-Zulu said.

She said the lobbying for the conference could not be linked to killings in any way.

“It is alarmist approach and we warn analysts about making such statements,” she added.