Statement by Abahlali baseMjondolo about ssassinations in Durban, South Africa.

Submitted to Enough 14.

Today we received a call from Mthokozisi Mhlophe’s family. He was murdered on Wednesday last week at his house in Mayville, just opposite the eNkanini occupation. They called us because people don’t know what else to do when assassination tears into their homes and their lives.

Mhlophe was an ANC loyalist and led in various structures of the ANC. In this capacity he often engaged local leaders in Cato Crest like Thembinkosi Qumbela, who was assassinated in March 2013, and Nkululeko Gwala, the Abahlali leader who was assassinated in June 2013.

Although Mhlophe was in the ANC he engaged our leaders with an open heart in those days. When we were attacked by the ANC in Kennedy Road in 2009 Mhlophe was brave to open his funeral parlour offices in Sydney Road and allow Abahlali to begin to regroup from his business site. That is where we had our first meeting after the attack.

Later on, when we reopened our office in the Salisbury Centre he would come and engage our leaders with respect. Our politics were already very different but the conversations were always carried on with respect.

While leading within structures of the ANC he was shot but survived the attempted murder. There was later a second attempt to his life during which he was shot in the thigh and still survived. He then joined the Delangokubona Business Forum, which was closely linked to Zandile Gumede. This was a time when we were facing another wave of serious repression from the ANC, led by Gumede’s faction.

Last Wednesday at about 21pm while sitting in his house with his wife and children, two unknown men knocked at the door. While his wife asked who was there, one of the men said he was Sihle from eMathinini and that he needs to speak to Mhlophe urgently. While his wife was arguing with the man saying that it was late, Mhlophe showed up and was shot thirteen times in his forehead in front of his wife and children. His 19-year-old son tried to defend his Dad but was shot in the leg. He was hospitalised and was discharged yesterday.

Abahlali visited the family this afternoon after we received the call. They narrated to us the incident. They know that he had been in meetings which led to arguments. But they are too scared to talk about it, or to even say what they are suspecting.

They are concerned that that ANC leaders, including the PR Councillor, have not come to visit the family but are spreading news about his death. They were even reluctant to facilitate his memorial service. This is all nowhere in the media. It is concerning us why this is not in the media.

On the same night two hours before Mhlophe was murdered S’bu Nguse was murdered about a kilometre away in Cato Crest. Nguse was also a prominent ANC member and served in local structures of the ANC. Of late we were told he became a business man. It is alleged he used to instigate violence and supplied illegal firearms. He threatened Abahlali in eKhenana. Nguse’s name was mentioned quite often as one of the alleged suspects in the murder of Nkululeko Gwala in Cato Crest few years ago.

The world needs to know just how dangerous the ANC in Durban is. The country is not safe in the hands of the ANC. We are all not safe from the ANC. If they are able to kill their own like this how much more free will they feel to kill us, and others outside the party?

Our politics was always very different to that of Mhlophe. We have made very different choices. As time passed those differences became bigger. Our vision of the future is very different. However, no human being deserves to be killed like this. This brutality and impunity is just too much. Silence on this is too much. The world must know the truth about the ANC.

Mhlophe leaves behind his wife Fazeka and six children. We wish to express our deepest condolences to Fazeka and the children.

We do not know who killed Mhlophe, or hired izinkabi to carry out the hit. We hope that law enforcement will investigate the murder unlike many assassinations of Abahlali members where no arrests where made and there were no investigations.

Abahlali baseMjondolo , March 2, 2020.

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