Pictured: ANC Nelson Mandela Bay Ward 27 councillor Sicelo Mleve (left) and DA Dunoon by-election ward candidate Sinovuyo Dyokwe (right) were brutally killed at the weekend
Image: FILE
Police are contemplating sending the Political Killings Task Team to take over the investigation into the brutal murders of a councillor and a candidate over the weekend.
Speaking on Sunday, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said she would discuss the killings with the acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Patricia Dimpane who will make a decision.
“The National Commissioner will make a decision. I will discuss the matter with her but I'm on my way to the airport because I'm heading to KwaZulu-Natal,” said Mathe.
On Saturday, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ward 27 councillor Sicelo Mleve was gunned down at his office while the Cape Town Municipality DA by-election candidate Sinovuyo Dyokwe was shot and killed while returning from a voter registration campaign in Dunoon.
The back-to-back killings unfolded on the first day of South Africa's final voter registration weekend ahead of the November 4 local government elections. Police in Nelson Mandela Bay said it is alleged two unknown armed male suspects stormed the office while a meeting consisting of roughly 10 people was actively underway.
"It is further said that the suspects held the victims at gunpoint, and ordered everyone present to hand over their cellphones. One of the suspects fired upon a 45-year-old man, inflicting multiple gunshot wounds, before fleeing the scene. The councillor sustained several gunshot wounds and was declared deceased on the scene,” said police.
The killing attracted the attention of the top police brass including the provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Vuyisile Ncata who arrived at the scene on Saturday night.
ANC NEC member Andile Lungisa condemned the killing, saying no city should normalise weekly killings, calling for the murders of innocent people in Gqeberha to be stopped without fear.
"It is so painful that Sicelo Mleve, a councillor of the ANC was killed by criminals in his office," said Lungisa.
Weighing in on the latest killings, Dr Hennie Lochner, the criminologist, said that as long as there are still unlicensed firearms police in the hands of the criminals police will never solve killings in the country.
He attributed the political killings to the high competition for political office and warned of more killings as the country goes to local government elections.
Meanwhile, DA federal leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced a R50,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dyokwe’s killers.
He made the announcement on Sunday during a visit to Dyokwe’s family to pay his respects, accompanied by Federal Council 1st Deputy Chairperson JP Smith, Federal Chairperson 1st Deputy Siviwe Gwarube, Western Cape provincial leader Tertuis Simmers, and Nic Gotseli, constituency head for Dunoon and member of the Select Committee on Security and Justice.