Durban — Another traditional leader was shot dead in KwaZulu-Natal, a week after Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube addressed the spate of killings around traditional leaders.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said Mpungamhlophe police were searching for suspects who shot and fatally wounded the 71-year-old man in the Ezibomvu area on Friday night.
“It is reported that the man and his wife were closing their tavern when two suspects came and demanded to buy liquor. The two resisted and the suspects got into a vehicle and waited. Just when the 71-year-old and his wife were leaving, the suspects alighted and fired shots and fatally wounded him,” Netshiunda said.
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi condemned the murder of Iso Lesilo in KwaNobamba in Ulundi.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic assassination of Iso leSilo of the KwaNobamba Traditional Council, Mbangiseni Gibson Mbuyisa, who was gunned down near his business in the Ezibomvu area on Friday night,” Sithole-Moloi said in a statement on Saturday.
“As a department, we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of yet another leader within the province’s institution of traditional leadership.”
The MEC conveyed her condolences to the Mbuyisa family and to His Majesty the King, who has lost yet another diligent steward within a very short space of time.
Sithole-Moloi said Mbuyisa served the traditional community of KwaNobamba with diligence on behalf of His Majesty, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini; he was also a member of the Zululand Local House of Traditional Leaders.
“These attacks threaten to destabilise the institution within our province, and we call upon law-enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned in their quest to apprehend the criminals responsible for these attacks,” Sithole-Moloi said.
“We call upon the community to work closely with law-enforcement in the hunt for the perpetrators.”
The assassination comes a week after Dube-Ncube revealed that in a meeting with traditional leaders, several issues were discussed, including the update on the process to resolve the back-pay of izinduna and the government’s response to the killing of amakhosi and izinduna.
On the killing of amakhosi and izinduna, Dube-Ncube said the matter was raised by His Majesty King Misuzulu kaZwelithini when he presided over the opening of the legislature last week.
Dube-Ncube said the killing of traditional leaders and izinduna was an attack on the state as it threatened to destabilise a critical institution to the stability and order in our society. It is also a symptom of the poison that has entered the core of our societal values where crime has become the order of the day and where murders go unresolved.
She said in a meeting with the SAPS in January 2022 it had emerged that the police were investigating 51 murder cases going back to 2012. To date, 30 people have been arrested while 18 cases are still pending in court. In two of these cases, the accused were found guilty. Six remain undetected.
“Among the possible motives behind the killings of traditional leaders has been the struggle for chieftaincy, land disputes, family disputes and even taxi-related disputes,” Dube-Ncube said.
She said they had asked that the security cluster explore the feasibility of setting up specialised units such as the Traditional Leaders Safety Unit, whose task will be to look after the safety of traditional leaders, especially those whose assessments revealed a security threat.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News