DURBAN - An ANC leader in Umvoti Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, has revealed that the recent killing of an ANC Ward 13 councillor could be an inside job.
Thembinkosi Lombo was gunned down while walking to a food outlet to buy lunch on Friday.
A local ANC leader said he had just left the council meeting to buy food and was expected to rejoin the meeting.
The leader who spoke on conditions of anonymity for fear of reprisal said Lombo’s killing was very suspicious. He was said to have left with a man wearing a mask whom he had introduced to the council as his relative but the man has since disappeared.
If the police were to get to the bottom of the murder, it was likely to point to an inside job within the party, he said.
The leader said the party was divided over who should be appointed as mayor when the party together with Abantu Batho Congress took power from the IFP. The party regional leadership wanted a different candidate than what party councillors wanted.
The Umvoti situation resembled the one that forced Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality to delay electing a mayor because councillors did not agree with the top structure’s choice.
“The deceased was very vocal about who should be the next mayor. His killing raises questions as we are preparing to take back power from the IFP where the mayoral position is expected to be from the ANC in its coalition with the ABC,” said the leader.
The Daily News understands that negotiations between the ABC and the ANC in the region are that either the ANC takes the mayoral position and chief whip while the ABC would keep the deputy and speaker positions or vice versa.
In the 27-seat council the ANC has 10 seats, the IFP nine, the ABC seven while the DA has one.
Regional secretary Bheki Lembethe described its councillor’s killing as tragic and a dark cloud that has engulfed the party and Umvoti community. The party was saddened by the brutal killing which happened at a time that the party was well in advance to complete tilting the balance of power.
Lembethe said he was also told of a relative who had come with the victim to the council but he had no details about him. The party would not speculate about possible causes but would leave all to the police.
He described the deceased as loyal and dedicated who had served leading the SA National Civic Organisation at regional and provincial level.
Daily News