ANC CONDEMNS THE BRUTAL KILLING OF COUNCILLOR
The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal calls on the police to leave no stone unturned in investigating the cold blooded murder of Comrade Jimmy Lembede.
According to reports, Lembede, who was a ward councilor in Umtshezi Municipality, was shot dead at his home on Friday evening. Comrade Lembede died on the spot and his wife sustained gunshot wounds.
The ANC is concerned with what seems to be a systematic campaign to eliminate our councillors to reverse the gains of democracy in the province.
"We call on the law enforcement agencies to ensure that those who are responsible for this callous crime are brought to book. The ANC is concerned that this latest killing takes place just days after different political parties in the province met with the national Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa in Durban to discuss the upsurge in political killings in the province," said ANC provincial secretary, Sihle Zikalala.
A meeting of leaders of different political parties in KwaZulu-Natal and Mthethwa last week raised optimism about our province's attempts to end politically related murders.
The meeting was convened after the ANC provincial Tripartite Alliance political summit's delegates called on Mthethwa to create a Task Team to investigate incidents of political party-related murders in KwaZulu-Natal.
We are pleased that the Minister has assigned the police officers from the national office to work with the police in KwaZulu-Natal to investigate political killings.
We condemn all the politically related deaths and call on our people to volunteer information that will help the law enforcement agencies.
The ANC is saddened by the killing of Comrade Lembede and we would like to convey our condolences to the family and friends. The ANC appeals to the community to assist the police in tracking down the killers.
Statement issued by Sihle Zikalala, ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, August 19 2012
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