Murdered NFP candidate councillor to be laid to rest

Dumisani Qwabe, who was the ward 17 candidate for the NFP, was found by the police burnt beyond recognition in his car in Nkunzana village near Pongola last month.

Dumisani Qwabe, who was the ward 17 candidate for the NFP, was found by the police burnt beyond recognition in his car in Nkunzana village near Pongola last month.

Published Nov 7, 2021

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FORMER NFP ward 17 councillor candidate in Nongoma Municipality, Dumisani Qwabe, who was killed in the run-up to the local government elections (LGE) will be laid to rest today.

Qwabe was shot and his car was set alight on October 25 following a day of campaigning in the area.

The party said DNA results had confirmed the body found in a burned out car was that of Qwabe.

“Qwabe, was shot and burnt inside his vehicle days before the LGE. He is being laid to rest after the DNA results confirmed the body found in the burnt car was indeed his,” said NFP general secretary Canaan Mdletshe.

The Nongoma Municipality was one of the hotly contested municipalities in the province that led to tensions between the IFP and the NFP surfacing.

Qwabe was one of three candidate councillors gunned down in the run-up to the elections.

In ward 101 of eThekwini, a by-election will be held after ANC councillor candidate Siyabonga Mkhize won the ward posthumously.

In Msunduzi, EFF candidate councillor Thulani Shange was also gunned down.

Qwabe’s murder shocked the NPF community and apparently drove many other candidates into hiding, the party said at the time.

NFP leaders described Qwabe as being dedicated to his community

They said Qwabe was not a politician but a community leader and pastor who happened to love the NFP. The party said he was supporting families financially and recently financed six boreholes so the community could get water.

“He was a community worker and that is why we as the NFP wanted him to enter the election on our behalf and he would have won the ward,” one councillor said at the time.

THE MERCURY