Durban - Petros Nxumalo, the newly elected councillor in the hotly contested Ward 4 in Inchanga, has resigned himself to the fact that the phrase “could get killed any moment” is not over-exaggeration.
Petros is the nephew of former mayor James Nxumalo, a long-time ANC member and activist, and says his life belongs to politics.
He has ignored pleas from family members to quit because of threats of violence and fears that he might be killed.
Nxumalo stood as an independent in the recent local government elections after being nominated by his community.
“The elders in my family have told me to quit, but I grew up in politics, this is what it is and I have resigned myself to the knowledge that anything might happen to me,” he said on Wednesday.
Nxumalo, 50, was speaking to The Mercury following his emphatic victory, where he said he won 7 of the 10 voting districts and received more than 8 000 votes.
His family’s fears are not unfounded - in the past few months 14 people have been killed in suspected political killings, many of them from the ANC.
Ward 4 was one of the most fiercely contested in Durban, the source of conflict being unhappiness with the ANC’s nomination list for those who would stand as councillors
In January this year, one person was shot and killed and another four were wounded when unknown gunman opened fire at people during a community meeting in Inchanga.
Since then his family has resolved he should have armed protection.
During the interview near a taxi rank, Nxumalo seemed to be safe as community members and motorists hooted and cheered when they saw him.
He arrived with two members of his security detail, one with an automatic rifle.The guard with the rifle stood close enough to protect his boss. The other stood close to an open car door for a quick getaway if needed.
“It (the security) was a family decision that is also funded by the family. This area is quiet, but it is not really quiet. You hear the sound of gunfire almost every night, so the area is still very much unstable,” he said.
Nxumalo, who is also the leader of the SACP in the area, said the decision by the community to go with an independent councillor was forced on them by the nomination process.
“Our membership was blocked... There were two massive community meetings where we marched to ask for our membership renewals and we were promised that it will be attended to. That never happened.”
Nxumalo said that he would not object to working with the ANC in the council, that he would see how things went in the council, and that the community was still divided over the councillorship.
He said to heal, the ANC needed rid itself of bad apples. “The party needs to separate its members from the criminals, because it is quite clear that some criminals have infiltrated the organisation.”
He said he looked forward to fulfilling his mandate.
“There are many things that this community needs, but most importantly, they need a councillor that they can reach out and talk too.”
The Mercury