POLITICS

Man arrested for MKMVA member's death at Mpumalanga ANCYL conference

Veteran, deployed to provide security at conference, shot dead at Badplaas municipal offices on Saturday

Man arrested for MKMVA member's death at Mpumalanga ANCYL conference

28 May 2018

A man has been arrested for the alleged murder of an Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) member who was shot dead during the Mpumalanga ANCYL's Gert Sibande regional conference over the weekend.

"The arrest follows a squabble that broke out at a political party meeting at Badplaas in the evening of 26 May," Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said on Monday.

He will appear in court soon, he added.

The suspect faces charges of murder, attempted murder, pointing of a firearm and assault, said Hlathi.

The ANCYL said it will conduct an internal investigation to establish whether any of its members were involved in the clash that led to the death of the MKMVA member.

"We will then take disciplinary action against any member who might have been involved in the violence at the weekend," ANCYL Mpumalanga spokesperson Bheki Sithole told News24 on Monday.

The MKMVA veteran, who was deployed to provide security at the conference, was shot dead at the Badplaas municipal offices on Saturday.

Sithole said the motive for the shooting was still unknown.

"The only thing we know now is that the perpetrators were not members of the ANCYL. They were [at the] conference, not by invitation, but they came on their own for purposes of disrupting congress," he said.

He said they were working with the police to ensure that they get to the bottom of the matter.

Sithole added that the league would issue a statement later on Monday regarding violence at the weekend conference.

News24