MKMVA spooks look to end KZN political killings

MKMVA provincial chairman Themba Mavundla and Premier Willies Mchunu.

MKMVA provincial chairman Themba Mavundla and Premier Willies Mchunu.

Published Jul 26, 2016

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Durban - The uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans in KwaZulu-Natal have “activated” their intelligence unit to end the ongoing “systematic assassination” of ANC candidate councillors, the veterans said on Monday.

Themba Mavundla, MKMVA provincial chairman, told journalists at the ANC offices that they had taken too long to “spring into action” to put an end to the killings. He acknowledged that it was ANC members killing each other.

He said there was a threat that the killings could spiral beyond the election period, and that they understood that the reason for the murders were challenges in the ward councillor nomination process.

“We know that some of these processes were manipulated badly, but that can’t be a reason to murder people. We can’t have a few stupid and barbaric people murdering other people.

“The MKMVA views these incidents in serious light as they appear to be attempting to drag us back to the violent past that we had all hoped we had turned our backs on. As MKMVA we are charged to always be ready to protect our people from attacks, from whatever quarters,” said Mavundla.

“We wish to put it on record that these killings are barbaric because they also target women, who are callously mowed down in front of their children. We are duty-bound to warn that the association will no longer fold its hands and do nothing in the face of the calculated, targeted campaign to deprive the ANC of its democratically elected leadership,” he said.

Asked if the association’s involvement, and the action they would take against the perpetrators, would not be against the law as the association had no mandate as a state security entity, Mavundla said they were protecting ANC members from individuals who joined for financial gain.

“Our intervention follows many others by the ANC. We now know that some members joined the movement just for positions.

“We took very long to react because we didn’t realise it would escalate to this level. We realise that members are turning against members and the rifts were widening,” said Mavundla.

He said they would assist law enforcement agencies with intelligence information on all suspects, including party members.

“We have placed our structures on the ground on the alert and prepared them to come to the defence of the ANC candidates in line with the historical mission of the association in the face of an onslaught.

“Those of us with intelligence background have been activated to provide early warning of impending attacks, so that they can share this with the police and the targeted candidates,” he said.

The ongoing killing of political party members ahead of the municipal elections in eight days has led to the formation of a task team by the provincial government.

All politically related murders will be looked at as per the plea by the IFP and the NFP.

On Sunday, two IFP members were murdered while campaigning for their party in the Estcourt area. Allegations are that a man opened fire at Siyanda Mnguni and Thokozani Majola while they were going door-to-door.

On the association not being mandated by state security, Mavundla said: “The historic task of the MKMVA is to defend ANC members. We are not talking government here, we’re talking ANC and its members. We will be dealing with dangerous criminals who might want to retaliate, but I can assure you that our members will win the fight,” he said.

The association’s provincial executive council member, Linda Mbulu, said it should be remembered that MKMVA were guerrillas who were trained to “disarm the enemy”.

“The fact that we have since laid down arms mustn’t confuse people. We can defend ourselves if the enemy gets agitated and decides to retaliate.

“However, our intervention should not be interpreted as encouraging war. We have identified hot spots in all the regions around the province and we have already tabled our plan of action to law enforcement agencies,” said Mbulu.

On Thursday, Premier Willies Mchunu’s office announced the appointment of a commission of enquiry to probe all political-related murders in KZN.

Mchunu said he had been consulting widely as they did not want to duplicate the work of the police.

“Importantly, we want to adhere to the legal framework, as this is a serious matter that will have legal implications,” said Mchunu.

“We are busy drawing up terms of reference. We will also start identifying and appointing commissioners. A formal announcement with the details and names of the commissioners will be made public as soon as these processes are completed,” he said.

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