Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Treasury General and Chief Whip, Narend Singh, says the party is concerned about the recent spate of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.
Speaking to Political Analysis South Africa on Monday, 14 May 2018, Singh said his party has called on the police to judiciously investigate the killings.
“We are relying heavily on the police, and the Hawks have also made contact with us to investigate this matter as thoroughly as possible,” he said.
The IFP recently expressed shock at the reported killing of a 35-year-old party councillor, Sibuyiselo Dlamini in Ulundi. Dlamini previously held positions in the Zululand district as an IFP Youth Brigade Chairperson before joining the municipality as a councillor.
“We, as a party are unaware who could’ve done this…but we’ve got our ears to the ground and we are trying to see if we can assist the police with any information,” Singh said.
He said the party has lost someone who served the party well.
Reflecting on what could be the reason for the rise of political killings in KZN, Singh said he was unaware, but speculated that it could have emanated from people competing for positions or from issues of corruption.
“We don’t know what motivated this killing. There are so many reasons, but political killings are becoming common, whether it’s people wanting positions, whether it’s to do with corruption and other agendas, we really don’t know,” he said.
Singh added that approximately 500 IFP councillors held a meeting in Durban over the weekend addressed by party leader, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, where he urged councillors to be more tolerant and respectful of each other.
Buthelezi also warned that IFP members who are found to be part of political killings would face severe consequences from the party leadership and the police.
