THURSDAY, 12.30PM
THE African National Congress has accused the police of participation in the massacre of five party members — three of them newly elected town councillors — in Richmond in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands.
The five, councillors Bhekumusa Mchunu and his cousin Mbongiseni Mchunu, both 25, and Boy Dhlamini, Mduduzi Mtungwa and Mshiyeni Nyide were dragged from their beds on Tuesday night and shot dead in the street with AK47 and R4 assault rifles.
Residents of Simozomeni township near Richmond, where the murders took place, arrested three suspects, who were handed over to police allegedly after being severely beaten. One of them was subsequently released.
Provincial transport MEC and ANC deputy provincial leader S’bu Ndebele said on the scene on Wednesday that the murdered councillors had requested additional protection from police just hours before they were killed, saying they were aware that arms were being brought into the area. Police apparently turned down the request because security in the area had been scaled down since Sunday’s by-election. The ANC also claimed the Pietermaitzburg public order policing unit had ordered SADF personnel out of the area on Tuesday night.
In a later statement, the ANC said its investigations showed that the police were not just accessories to the assassinations, but had taken a direct and active part in the killings.
The party has demanded the immediate suspension of Superintendent HermanO’Connell, acting commander of the midlands public order policing unit, and Richmond station commander Ronnie Maganlal. The ANC said its political rival in the area, former party MPL Sifiso Nkabinde, is ”simply a tool”, and that ”third force elements who are still in commanding positions in the SAPS” are responsible for the murders.
Nkabinde on Wednesday described the killings as ”a barbaric act” from which he distanced himself. Nkabinde’s house was searched as part of the police investigation into the murders, but no weapons were found.