IFP councillor Innocent Mkhwanazi. | Supplied
Durban — The IFP has welcomed the arrest of the suspect who allegedly brazenly gunned down the prominent former party councillor, Innocent Mkhwanazi, in July last year in Mtubatuba, in the north of KwaZulu-Natal.
Mkhwanazi – widely known by his moniker “Killer” – was murdered while driving with his bodyguards, who were unharmed. He served as the IFP councillor in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality at the time of his demise.
Reacting to the arrest, IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said: “We welcome the arrest, and we hope that those behind his killing will be convicted. We will monitor the court proceedings closely.”
Musa Mkhwanazi, who is a close relative of the slain Mkhwanazi, told the Daily News they hoped the arrest would lead to a conviction.
“As the family, we are happy that our brother’s suspected killer has been arrested, but we want to see this leading to a conviction.
“We know that his arrest will not bring our brother back, but it will bring some solace to us as the grieving family,” said Musa.
Life has never been the same since Mkhwanazi was gunned down, he said.
“Things have never been the same for us as the family. It has been difficult for us to make ends meet as he was one of the people we relied on as the family,” said Musa.
“Maybe we will find out in court as to who had ordered the killing of our brother because, to this day, we have only been speculating.
“We know that our brother had a lot of enemies who despised him. But we hope now that we will know why he was killed in such a painful way,” he said.
The suspect cannot be named as he has not pleaded to the charges he is facing yet.
The 43-year-old suspect appeared in the Mtubatuba Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The case was postponed to September 2. He is facing a charge of murder.
At the time of his tragic death, Mkhwanazi was at loggerheads with the leadership of the IFP owing to what the party described at the time as “unruly behaviour”.
This stemmed from his allegedly leading a mass protest against his brother and former mayor of Mtubatuba Qhina Mkhwanazi.
The party warned against leading such a march, but the repeated warnings fell on deaf ears and Mkhwanani forged ahead with the march.
This opened a floodgate of criticism against him with the IFP subsequently expelling him. He challenged his expulsion, however, at the time of his death, the matter was yet to be heard in court.
Mkhwanazi was also known as a fire eater and a no-nonsense politician. He once nearly got into a fistfight with the former KZN premier Sihle Zikalala, who now serves as the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.
KZN is a known hotbed of politically motivated killings targeting most politicians who serve as councillors.
The SA Local Government Association (Salga) said 39 councillors had died in KZN last year alone.
Of these, 19 councillors had died due to natural causes, car accidents, with a big chunk being gunned down. The police said the arrest of the suspect came after a well-orchestrated investigation.
“We can confirm that a 43-year-old suspect was arrested following a well-orchestrated investigation by our police,” said the police in a statement.
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Daily News