DURBAN - THE situation was tense in Melmoth between IFP factions after three people were shot and wounded, apparently by the new mayor’s bodyguards.
The IFP had recently fired Umthonjaneni mayor Bonginkosi Biyela who is in the current party president Velenkosini Hlabisa’s faction and was replaced by Mbangiseni Biyela (not related) who is believed to be a supporter of the party provincial chairperson and mayor of Nkandla Thami Ntuli’s faction called KKK (Konke kuhamba kahle).
There have been rumours that Ntuli and Hlabisa were not on good terms and belonged to different camps within the party but both leaders have denied this. The former mayor confirmed that he belonged to a camp which was associated with Hlabisa called AU (Abusekho Ubunzima).
According to him, the current mayor had organised the party meeting at Thubalethu township hall but a commotion broke out and his bodyguards together with other officials’ guards opened fire, seriously wounding three people.
The former mayor told the Daily News on Monday that those who were shot were the people who were calling for his reinstatement and four councillors who were fired last month.
In an invitation apparently from the current mayor, which was written under the party’s letterheads and addressed to the councillors, the meeting was to protect the party’s image “We are calling for the swift arrest of the perpetrators because they were known.
“We also want the case to be removed from Melmoth detectives and be taken by a provincial team.
“We believe that local investigation officers may be compromised because of their proximity to the municipality,” said former mayor Bonginkosi Biyela.
He said that according to the information he received from Ngwelezane hospital the injured people were recovering.
IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party would issue a statement after receiving the full report from the local leadership.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the incident was being investigated and no one had been arrested.
She said three people were rushed to Ngwelezane hospital at Mpangeni where two were treated and released but the third was in a critical condition in hospital.
Meanwhile, the former mayor and other dismissed councillors are appealing their dismissal in court.
One of the councillors, Zipho Ndlovu, said they had filed their papers but were awaiting opposing papers from the party before the court provide a date for the matter to be heard.
Daily News