MONDAY, 9.00AM
A THOUSAND people are believed to have fled the KwaZulu-Natal flashpoint area of Richmond over the weekend after two days of fighting.
The triggers were the two funerals of the youth leader of the National Consultative Forum and his girlfriend, who were murdered earlier in the week. The recently established forum is allied to local warlord Sifiso Nkabinde, whose expulsion from the ANC earlier in the year sparked recent violence in the area.
Youth leader Msouthern Zondi and his girlfriend Phumusile Nxele were shot dead by unknown assailants in an attack on their home, and buried at separate funerals, she on Saturday, he on Sunday.
Violence began when forum supporters marching to Nxele’s funeral exchanged fire with African National Congress supporters. Both sides blame the other for initiating the fighting, which continued through the night, and resulted in the petrol bombing of 17 houses.
On Sunday, a thousand people, many of them armed, attended Zondi’s funeral where forum leader Bantu Holomisa was the keynote speaker. Violence continued, and police were deployed in the area. Four people are known to have been injured by gunfire, but no deaths have been reported yet. Residents have been reported taking shelter at the local soccer stadium and school, camping in offices in the town’s business district, or fleeing to the provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg.
Tensions in the area boiled over a fortnight ago when five ANC supporters were murdered execution style. Police have not yet arrested anyone in connection with the murders.