Durban – A man who was found shot dead in his bed was an African National Congress councillor, the party said on Friday.
Party spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli said: “The African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal is shocked and saddened by the brutal murder of one of its activist, Cde Thembinkosi ‘Commando’ Zoleka.”
Ntuli described the shooting of Zoleka as an assassination.
Earlier on Friday police spokeswoman Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that Zoleka had been found dead in his bed.
She said that police had been called to the Phillips Road residence at 11.20 on Thursday night.?
“Paramedics found a man still in his bed with a single gunshot wound,” said Athlenda Mathe, Netcare 911 spokeswoman.
Gwala said that the motive for the murder of the 47-year-old, who was shot in the head, was unknown and no suspects had been apprehended.
Zoleka was a member of the ANC Lower South Coast Region, a Regional Executive Committee member and a proportional representation councillor in the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.
“At this stage, details regarding Comrade Zoleka’s murder remain sketchy but it appears that he was attacked in his sleep when the assassin gained entrance in the house through the window. He was shot while his wife and children were in dining room studying and the suspect used the same window to escape,” said Ntuli.
Zoleka’s wife, hearing the shots crawled to the bedroom to inform her husband of the shots, only to find that it was he who had been shot.
Ntuli urged anyone with information to contact the police.
Zoleka’s killing means that at least 13 ANC councillors have been murdered since the beginning of the year.
Last month KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu announced the formation of a commission of inquiry to investigate political killings in the province since 2011.
According to the South Coast Herald newspaper, Zoleka had only been a councillor since the local government elections in August.
Inkatha Freedom Party spokesman Blessed Gwala urged Mchunu to address the ongoing political violence.
African News Agency