Isolezwe: Uzibona engaphephile obulawelwe isoka (28 June 2013)
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More newspaper coverage of the Nkululeko Gwala Assasination
Daily News: Slain activist was warned to leave
http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/slain-activist-was-warned-to-leave-1.1539200#.Uc2KV_kwfUU
Slain activist was warned to leave
By NKULULEKO NENE
Durban – The distraught girlfriend of the murdered Cato Crest protest leader says his comrades warned him to flee the area for his own safety, shortly before he was gunned down.
Thembi Mazubane, 42, who had lived with Nkululeko Gwala, 34, described how she found his body in the road near her home in Cato Crest after 10pm on Wednesday. He had been shot in the head and chest, she said.
Just two hours before he was shot, and earlier in the week, Gwala had told the Daily News that he had received death threats .
Gwala, of the shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali base Mjondolo, was shot while he was walking home after watching a football game at Mgazi’s tavern. Mazubane said she had advised him to quit his activism over housing provision in the area, but he would hear none of it.
The killing came just hours after eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo and Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo – who is also chairman of the ANC in the city – met residents at the Cato Crest Community Hall to discuss rising tension.
The offices of two local councillors were torched earlier this week, apparently by residents unhappy over the allocation of RDP houses.
During the meeting, a number of community members who were given a chance to speak mentioned Gwala by name, commending his actions.
Mazubane said that after the meeting his comrades advised him to leave the area.
“He told them that if he dies, they should just continue to fight for service delivery. This house is never going to be the same without him. His bravery brought him this fate,” she said.
Mazubane said Gwala had told her he had no interest in owning a house in Cato Crest but was involved in protesting for people whose voices had been ignored by leaders.
Gwala was in the thick of things during the land invasions in Cato Crest earlier this year and represented residents in talks with eThekwini officials, including the mayor.
Recalling the horror of finding his body, Mazubane, said: “I cried seeing him in that position. He was face-down. It seemed as if his head had been filled up with nails. I have never experienced such trauma.”
She said she was deeply hurt that none of her neighbours had called to give her support or pay their respects.
Gwala’s father, Thembinkosi Ndokweni, of eManzimtoti, hailed his son as a “real man who had big plans and would not let fear stand in his way”.
Ndokweni said: “I have lost a man with a wonderful heart. He drafted a business proposal for an Inchanga youth project. His vision was to hand out awards to schools with an excellent matric pass rate. He owned a successful football team at Inchanga. He always wanted to bring change into people’s lives.”
Ndokweni plans to have his son buried on Wednesday.
Police said they were investigating Gwala’s death.
Isolezwe: Iyashuba eyababhikishi baseMayville
http://www.iol.co.za/isolezwe/iyashuba-eyababhikishi-basemayville-1.1537688#.Uc1DBvkwfUV
Iyashuba eyababhikishi baseMayville
By SANDILE GUMEDE
UYAQINA umkhankaso wabahlali baseMayville kuWard 30 abangafuni nokuyizwa indaba yekhansela elikhona ngoba bathi abalikhethanga. Izolo laba bahlali baphinde bavala umgwaqo uVusi Mzimela (Bellair Road) ngamathayi avuthayo nangezingodo.
Kuthiwa lo mbhikisho uqale emva komhlangano ababe nawo ngabo-8 ebusuku ngoMsombuluko nokuthiwa batholane phezulu namaphoyisa abedubula ngezinhlamvu zenjoloba nangesisi esikhalisa unyembezi, kwasa emnyango.
Kuboshwe abantu abathathu kulokhu kududulana namaphoyisa njengoba kuthiwa bashaye balimaza izimoto zamaphoyisa. Ngenyanga edlule babekhala ngento efanayo, kwaze kwangenelela izikhulu ze-ANC ezabathembisa ukuthi zizobuyela kubona emva kwamasonto amabili kodwa akwangenzeka.
Umholi womphakathi uMnuz Mduduzi “Gaddafi” Sibiya, uthi kade sadlula isikhathi ababethi bazobuyela ngaso emphakathi nokuyikho okuthukuthelise umphakathi.
“Zafika izikhulu ze-ANC emva kombhikisho odlule kukhona nelungu lesigungu esiphezulu uNomacawe Mafu, bathi bazobuyela kithi emva kwamasonto amabili, kodwa kuze kube manje lutho. Abantu bathukuthele kabi, bathi abasuki la emgwaqweni uma engafiki uZuma (uMengameli we-ANC),” kusho uSibiya.
Uqhube wathi bezwe umoyana wokuthi kukhona umhlangano ozoba khona ngoMgqibelo kodwa wathi kuyimizamo yokubanqinda amandla ukuthi bangabhikishi.
“Le ndaba yomhlangano bekuyinto engekho-nje, bekuyimizamo yokusinika ithemba elingekho. Abantu badiniwe manje ngoba abalifuni ikhansela (uNksz Zanele Ndzoyiya,” kuqhuba uSibiya.
Uthi okuphinde kwabaqeda umoya du, impendulo abayithole kuSihlalo we-ANC uMnuz Senzo Mchunu, uma bembikela ukuthi umphakathi uthukuthele ngokuphula kwabo isithembiso. Kuthiwa uMchunu uphendule ngokuthi: “Akusho lutho ukuthi sasithe sizobuya emva kwamasonto amabili, nina yekani le nto eniyenzayo ngoba ayikho emthethweni … akunina nodwa eniyi-ANC.”
Ethintwa yiSolezwe uMchunu uthe yonke imibuzo ayibhekiswe kuNobhala wesifunda uMnuz Bheki Ntshangase, okunguye olwazi kangcono lolu daba.
UNtshangase uvumile ukuthi babethembise ukuthi bazobuyela kubona emva kwamasonto amabili kodwa wathi nabo akukho abangakwenza njengoba udaba lusezandleni zesigungu esiphezulu kuzwelonke.
“Lolu daba alusekho ezandleni zethu, nathi silinde isinqumo esiyothathwa yisigungu esiphezulu kuzwelonke se-ANC. Bona bekumele balinde size sibuyele kubona noma babuze ukuthi sekumiphi, hhayi ukuthi bavale umgwaqo,” kuchaza uNtshangase.
Uphethe ngokuthi akukho abangakwenza ukuthi basuse ababhikishi.
“Ibona abayozikhethela ukuthi bayasuka noma cha, ngeke mina ngibabelethe ngithi abasuke, futhi uyazi-ke ukuthi laba bantu abangifuni,” usho kanje.
Okhulumela amaphoyisa KwaZulu-Natal, uCaptain Thulani Zwane, ukuqinisekisile ukuboshwa kwamadoda amathathu ngokudala udlame emphakathini, wathi kulindeleke bavele enkantolo maduze nje.
Daily News Front Page – Final Edition 27 June 2013 (Housing activist murdered)
http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/kzn-protest-leader-shot-12-times-1.1538500#.Uc0-ZfkwfUU
KZN protest leader shot 12 times
By NKULULEKO NENE
Durban – A Cato Crest man who led protests in the area this week over the allocation of RDP houses was shot 12 times – just hours after a high level ANC delegation met with angry community members.
Nkululeko Gwala, 34, had told the Daily News during the week and two hours before he died, that he was afraid he would be killed. He was shot by two men as he made his way home at about 10.30pm.
This is the second killing related to the allocation of RDP houses in the area since violence first flared up in March. Thembinkosi Qumbelo, the leader of the Cato Crest Residential Association, was gunned down on March 15 by four gunmen. No arrests have been made.
The latest killing came just hours after eThekwini mayor, James Nxumalo and Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo – who is also chairman of ANC in the city – met community members at the Cato Crest Community Hall to discuss rising tension in the area during which two local councillors’ offices were torched.
Speaking to the Daily News before his death, Gwala said he did not want to attend the meeting because he feared he might be killed.
He said the main reason he had led the protests this week was that councillors were giving low cost houses to politically connected people.
“People should get houses because of merit and not politcal affiliations,” he said.
“If they say I am guilty of leading the protest then that is fine because I am doing it for the rights of people.”
He was dead two hours later.
Long-standing tension over the allocation of RDP houses intensified this week after land invaders, evicted from their shacks, blockaded part of King Cetshwayo (Jan Smuts) Highway on Monday morning.
This morning, his girlfriend, Thembi Mazubane, 42, said he was ambushed by two men who were later seen running away from the scene.
“After Qumbelo’s death, two women jokingly said I must buy black panties and bras in preparation for mourning. I believe that those who shot him also murdered Qumbelo. He (Gwala) had been receiving death threats since the protests started,” she said.
Addressing community members on Wednesday night, Dhlomo slammed police for not stopping the mob that went on the rampage in the area. He said police did nothing to stop the violence or arrest offenders.
The offices of ward councillors Zanele Ndzoyiya and Mzimuni Mnguni were torched on Tuesday night and Vusi Mzimela (Bellair) Road and King Cetshwayo Highway had been blocked with rubble and burning tyres.
“I am going to have an urgent meeting with (MEC for Community Safety and Liaison) Willies Mchunu to vent our unhappiness on how police conducted themselves during the protests.
“We hear that police accompanied the hooligans while they were destroying properties. We urge the community not to rely on police, but be protective of this area and its infrastructure,” said Dhlomo, who was addressing Cato Crest residents at a special meeting on Wednesday.
He appealed to the community not to allow hooligans to stand in the way of development. “Otherwise, the budget set for building homes in the area will be taken elsewhere,” he said.
Nxumalo was among the speakers at the meeting, which was attended by thousands of residents. He also criticised the police, calling them incompetent.
Nxumalo referenced Gwala – who had been mentioned by several residents – in his address to residents, telling them that he knew him from their home town, Inchanga, and that he had come from a “good home”.
Nxumalo appealed to people to be patient as the shortage of land hindered development. However, he said there were other housing projects, such as Cornubia, where they could be housed.
Mnguni said it was disappointing to see infrastructure being destroyed and development halted because of a few unruly people.
Police confirmed Gwala’s death and said they were investigating.