Durban - Lungisani Mchunu, 21, was executed in Inchanga on Tuesday night, allegedly by people looking for his brother, Siphesihle Nyandu, one of the SACP leaders in the area.
A witness said Mchunu was made to kneel and shot once in the top of his head. He was one of two people shot on Tuesday night - another man in his 30s, who was shot moments before Mchunu in the same road, is in hospital fighting for his life.
It is unclear whether the first shooting was related to Mchunu’s murder.
The shooting came just hours after Ndumiso Shozi and Thobani Shozi, who are related to the area’s ANC PR councillor Boy Shozi, were shot and killed on Monday night, in Inchanga.
The area has been plagued by violence since the run-up to the local government elections in August when disagreements betweens the ANC and SACP led to a dispute over who should stand as a councillor for the ward. Eventually the SACP candidate stood as an independent and won.
Eight people have been killed in the area this year in violence believed to be related to the tensions between the parties.
The latest attack, community members said, was made to look like a revenge attack, with allegations that Mchunu was seen with the crowds that burned houses early this year after violence broke out in the area.
His family said he was not involved in that violence and they believed the attack was the work of a third force trying to cover up the shooting of the Shozi family members.
It has put the community - who raised concerns about police visibility, mistrust of the local police unit and the callous nature of the killings - further on edge.
A relative, who declined to be named, said he hid inside the room under the bed when Mchunu was executed by people, one of whom he recognised as a friend of Mchunu.
He said the first shooting victim, who was shot while talking to his girlfriend, Mchunu and the suspected shooter were all friends.
“We heard a gun going off and we saw people running down the street and we stayed indoors. Mchunu opened the door to see what was happening and I heard him saying, ‘Why are you pointing a gun at me?’ The people demanded to know where Siphesihle was and he told them he did not know.
“He pleaded with them not to shoot him as he had a small baby. He decided to walk with them to the family home (on the same property) to look for Siphesihle, but he was not there.”
The relative said the men returned with Mchunu. “They kept saying he was playing and he was going to tell them where Siphesihle was. They made him sit down and they stood over him and they shot him once in the head,” he said.
He said he doubted that this was purely an SACP-ANC clash in the area.
“There is a third force pushing these killings. This is no longer an ANC and SACP issue. This coming Saturday we had planned a big celebration for winning this ward, but after the Shozi boys were killed we knew that the event could not go ahead. Why would we sabotage our event by randomly killing people?” he asked.
Spokesman for the Department of Transport Community Safety and Liaison, Kwanele Ncalane, said Inchanga was a hotbed of political violence and more police officers would be deployed.
“MEC Mxolisi Kaunda has engaged the police commissioner and the provincial Hawks, and we call on the community not to speculate about the latest attack and let the police investigate,” said Ncalane.
Police spokesman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said the motive for the shooting
was not known and they were still searching for the suspects.