The Mercury: Housing activist shot dead

Note: AbM is not aligned to the DA. A tactical decision was made to vote for the DA in the last election in response to the murder of AbM activists. AbM is not aligned to any party.

Sihle Manda, The Mercury

Durban – A woman was shot and killed in an attack at her house in KwaNdengezi on Monday.

Thuli Ndlovu, 36, chairwoman of the KwaNdengezi branch of the shack dwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, was killed a few hours after telling her mother, “today we are going to be shot”. She had been suspicious of a car driving past her house in the afternoon.

Ndlovu’s teenage daughter, Slindile, was unharmed, but her maths tutor, Sphe Madlala, 18, was shot and seriously injured.

Ndlovu’s mother, Khemani Ndlovu, said she had been watching television when she heard what she thought was a thunderstorm.

She saw a man fire shots into Thuli’s building, but when she went outside, the killer had fled.

Her daughter was lying in a pool of blood, while Madlala bled profusely.

Madlala is believed to have had surgery and is in a critical condition.

Abahlali was adamant that the shooting was linked to a housing development spat between the community and local leaders.

The movement said in a statement on Tuesday: “We have accepted that some of us will die in this struggle. Many of us have received threats. We knew that another assassination was coming.”

In July last year, former Abahlali president S’bu Zikode called for a probe into the killings of Nkululeko Gwala and Thembinkosi Qumbelo.

Police spokesman Jay Naicker said KwaNdengezi police were investigating a case of murder and attempted murder. No one had been arrested.

The DA’s provincial spokesman, Hlanganani Gumbi, said the party, to which Abahlali was aligned, would monitor the investigations.