The son of KwaZulu-Natal social welfare MEC and Zulu royal Prince Gideon Zulu was critically injured in Ulundi on Monday in what the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) called a failed ”assassination attempt” on Prince Zulu’s life.
The family’s driver is also in hospital in a critical condition.
KwaZulu-Natal police representative Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said the vehicle carrying Prince Zulu’s wife Princess Madlamini ”Dolly” Zulu, and their son, Prince Mazwi, was travelling on the Ulundi 19 road about five kilometres outside of the town when it was attacked.
”The victims were travelling in a Mercedes Benz when occupants in a white or silver-grey sedan opened fire on their vehicle with heavy calibre. The driver lost control of the vehicle causing it to leave the road up an embankment and then back onto the road,” Naidoo said.
Prince Gideon Zulu Snr was not in the car at the time.
Naidoo said Prince Mazwi and the driver, identified as a Mr Mdlalose, were in a critical condition in hospital after sustaining gunshot wounds to their upper bodies and heads.
Princess Madlamini was treated for injuries she sustained in the subsequent accident.
Naidoo said the motive for the attack was not known at this stage. The Serious and Violent Crime Unit has been tasked with the investigation which is already underway, he said.
Naidoo appealed to anyone who had information about the attack to telephone the police’s Crime-Stop number, 08600-10111.
IFP national representative Musa Zondi described the attack as an attempt to assassinate Prince Zulu Snr, a senior member of the party.
”One again, a destructive minority — the enemies of peace — have raised the ugly spectre of renewed violence in the province. The IFP calls for all practical steps to be taken to contain the anger of the people that may be aroused by this cowardly act,” Zondi said.
He said the majority of the province’s people were committed to peace and reconciliation.
Up to 20 000 people died in 13 years of violence between supporters of the IFP and the rival African National Congress (ANC) in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Rows between the IFP and the ANC over the site of the provincial capital, floor-crossing legislation and the axing of two ANC MECs from the IFP-dominated provincial executive, have raised political temperatures in KwaZulu-Natal over the past six months. – Sapa