of UDM official
Chiara Carter
United Democratic Movement official Michael Matiyase was gunned down in a Cape Town transit camp on Sunday against a backdrop of intrigue about the allocation of housing sites.
The bitter animosity between two rival organisations at the Samora Machel camp is yet another chapter in the long history of Byzantine power politicking in Cape Town’s townships and informal settlements.
As well as being a UDM branch deputy chair, Matiyase was the organiser for a “South African National Civics Organisation Committee” elected in September at Samora Machel. The committee, led by former Guguletu resident “Shooter” Nobombo, has proved controversial and the regional South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) office has distanced itself from it.
Instead, Sanco worked with a rival group called the Project Committee, or committee of five, led by Bhayi Nkwele, who – like his rivals – has been accused of involvement in the illegal sale of housing sites.
While the dispute about who was allocated sites has raged for months, it worsened with the entry of party politics into the fray. There are claims that members of the local Sanco committee support the UDM. The Nkwele grouping includes African National Congress supporters, despite claims that its leader was disciplined by the ANC in 1997 for selling housing sites.
The Nobombo committee also includes people alleged to have been involved in selling sites.
In October, Nobombo headed an illegal occupation of the sites and provincial authorities evicted the group amid claims that he was a “false Sanco organiser”. The conflict led to several confrontations including a shoot-out between the groups in which four people were injured.
Samora Machel residents this week speculated that this may have been the reason for Matiyase’s assassination. Others said his enemies may have seized the moment, viewing the killing of UDM leader Sifiso Nkabinde as a sign to kill controversial local UDM activists.
UDM Western Cape leader Malizole Diko met with police and said a special task team would be set up to investigate Matiyase’s slaying.
The murder has raised fears that the Western Cape, already burdened with a series of urban terror attacks, may experience violence in its informal settlements in the run-up to the elections.