Khaya Ngubane has been found guilty of killing Ayanda Ngila

Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Khaya Ngubane has been found guilty of killing Ayanda Ngila

Khaya Ngubane, the man who assassinated Ayanda Ngila, our comrade and the deputy chairperson of the eKhenana Commune, was found guilty of murder by the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Khaya Ngubane is a member of the ANC youth league in Cato Crest and the son of Samson Ngubane the notorious ANC aligned Zionist Christian Church pastor. He, acting with others, attempted to assassinate Lindokuhle Mnguni on 8 March 2022 but Lindokuhle was able to escape. However, they found Ayanda and fired a number of bullets, ending his life. We hope that the others who were acting with Khaya Ngubane will also be arrested and prosecuted and that he will not spend time in prison alone.

As happened with the ANC witnesses in the trial that followed the attack on our movement in the Kennedy Road settlement in 2009 the Magistrate also found that both Khaya and his witnesses had lied under oath.

Khaya Ngubane’s father and uncle, Samson and Mhlanganyelwa Ngubane, were present in court. They kept walking around in and out of court because they could see that the fence was closing in – not only on their son but on both of them too.

It must be remembered that both Samson and Mhlanganyelwa Ngubane were arrested for the killing of Nokuthula Mabaso who had written a sworn affidavit as the witness in the assassination of Ayanda.

Ayanda was  a dedicated leader of the struggle who played a key role in building the eKhenena Commune and had a clear vision about how land must be used for the benefit of the poor in eKhenana. He was deeply committed to building democratic organisation and power among the oppressed, to the equality of women and men and the struggle for socialism.

The initial eKhenana land occupation and then Commune came under constant attack from the state since the beginning and the Commune also been under constant attack from the local ANC in ward 101. There have been numerous illegal and violent evictions and a number of comrades have been assaulted, wrongfully arrested and imprisoned. Some have had their houses burnt. Ayanda Ngila was assassinated on 8 March 2022. Nokuthula Mabaso was assassinated on 5 May 2022. Lindokuhle Mnguni was assassinated on 20 August 2022.

Siyabonga Manqele was shot and killed by masked police officers on 11 March 2022 in the nearby eNkanini settlement.

The price for land and dignity has been paid in blood. The struggle for socialism has been met with death.

Over the years our movement has lost 24 comrades to state and party violence. There have only been three convictions.

In 2016 Velile Lutyeku and Mduduzi Ngcobo, both ANC councillors, together with their hired gunman Mlungisi Ndlovu, were convicted for the murder of Thuli Ndlovu in KwaNdengezi on 29 September 2014.

In 2018 Phumlani Ndlovu, a police officer at the Cato Manor police station, was convicted for the murder of Nqobile Nzuza in Cato Crest on 30 September 2013.

Now Khaya Ngubane has been convicted for the murder of Ayanda Ngila in Cato Crest on 8 March 2022.

We are being killed by the ANC and the state for standing up for our dignity and organising to build the power of the oppressed from below. The ANC and the state want us to remain divided and silent while they continue to oppress us. They know that they cannot continue to rule in the name of the poor when the poor are autonomously organised. They know that as we build our power from below by organising and building productive communes their power to oppress us is reduced. They know that as we refuse to vote for amasela nababulali (thieves and murderers) they are slowly losing their hold on power. They know that if the impoverished continue to suffer in their millions the day will come when their anger will turn the country upside down.

Throughout the years of repression of the eKhenana Commune it has been clear that many police officers, and parts of the prosecuting authority, are captured by the ANC. However the charges brought against our comrades are always dropped in the end and they are always released from prison in the end while Khaya Ngubane was convicted. The criminal justice system has been seriously damaged by ANC capture but there are some police officers, prosecutors and magistrates who remain independent. We salute all those who have resisted ANC capture and are guided by the evidence as they do their work. In some cases this takes real courage.

It is important that we all work together to roll back the ANC capture of the criminal justice system and ensure that it functions fairly and that murderers are held to account.

Ayanda lived his life with a commitment to socialism or death. We will honour him by taking that struggle forward with courage and commitment and we will keep struggling for justice for Lindokuhle, Nokuthula and all the others.

The struggle continues.

Thapelo Mohapi: 084 576 5117
Mqapheli Bonono: 073 067 3274
Zandile Nsibande: 073 611 8279