Ann Eveleth
THE shooting deaths of two political leaders in KwaZulu-Natal this week sparked a war of words between the African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party, with each party accusing their opponent of the attacks and calling for stronger “self-defence” measures.
The IFP said the murder on Monday of IFP Impendle constituency chair Mgudeleni Madlala was “the latest in a series of political assassinations” in an area where “almost the entire IFP leadership” had been slain in the past year.
The ANC said two assassins had gunned down ANC Ngoma branch chair Themba Majozi in Umlazi on Tuesday morning in his home, while ANC regional organiser S’khumbuzo Gamede and ANC Wembezi chairman Teaspoon Mkhize survived a separate ambush by AK-47 wielding gunmen on Tuesday afternoon in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands region of Okhahlamba.
South African Police Services Inspector Vishnu Naidoo confirmed a “Walter” Majozi had been found shot dead in his bed in Umlazi’s J section, but said he could not confirm his political position. SAPS Captain Joshua Gwala said two counts of attempted murder were being investigated following the attack on Gamede, and that AK-47 cartridges and shotgun casings had been found at the scene. Police said the motive was unknown in both cases.
And SAPS Superintendent Henri Budhram confirmed the attack on IFP leader Madlala, who was shot dead and two others wounded when three unknown gunmen with AK-47s burst into an RDP meeting at the Nxamalala Tribal Court in the Inzinga district of Impendle. He said the motive was unknown, but that the Impendle area — where four policemen were gunned down in September — suffered from “political
The IFP said it was “ironic that Madlala fell victim to a political assassination while organising an event in support of the RDP, a programme originating from the ANC”.
IFP national organiser Senator Senzo Mfayela said it was now apparent that “in the new South Africa, being an office bearer for the IFP in much of KwaZulu-Natal comes with an automatic death sentence” and demanded an “independent inquiry into the ongoing murder of our leaders”. Mfayela said the IFP would use the “full scope of non-violent direct action” to achieve it.
ANC MP Dumisane Makhaye said the attacks made it “clear that the enemies of the ANC have stepped up their acts of terror against ANC members, especially at leadership level”. Warning that the run-up to local government elections in the province could see “the IFP and some elements within the security forces” engaging in dirty tricks against the party, Makhaye called for “wall to wall security” in the province. He added that people must invoke the right to self-defence, saying “absolutely everything is permissible in defence of life and property.”
l SAPS Superintendent Bala Naidoo said police had investigated 392 murders of IFP leaders and office bearers since 1985, but “to date there is no … reason to believe that these attacks are orchestrated”.
The final Goldstone Commission report, dated October 27 1994 said the Commission’s inquiry into 140 cases of murder of IFP members had found “no evidence at all linking members of the ANC and MK to the murders (or) to support the allegation of a systematic policy by the ANC and MK to murder leaders of the IFP”.