IFP councillor gunned down, party calls for urgent investigations

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has called for an urgent investigation after one of its councillors, Mfanzo Nzuza, was gunned down at his home KwaMambulu near Kranskop on Friday night.

“We are very saddened by his sudden death and we are very concerned. We are calling on the police to speed up the investigation and find those who committed the heinous crime,”  IFP KZN spokesperson on community safety Blessed Gwala said in a statement on Saturday.

Nzuza had been a Ward 2 councillor at Maphumulo Municipality since 2016 and he also served in the ward committee from 2011 until 2016.

Gwala said the IFP was unaware of the motive behind the murder by unknown assailants.

“We do not know what the motive is‚ that’s why we want the police to assist us and provide us with answers. It is shocking that as the country is celebrating Freedom Day now as the IFP we have to mourn for our councillor,” he said.

The IFP has been calling on an investigation into the proliferation of illegal firearms in communities for a lengthy period of time.

“The province is increasingly becoming a harbour for gun-toting assassins. Our communities do not feel safe anymore due to these random killings carried out by these trigger-happy criminals who know that the law is weak and that they will get away with their actions,” Gwala explained.

As a result, the IFP is of the view that communities need further engagement in communities on curbing illicit arms trafficking through the identification of gun runners, trafficking routes and gun markets.

“In addition, government need to revive gun amnesty.

“A gun amnesty allows members of the public to willfully hand over guns they should not have without being prosecuted for having them. Our country badly needs this intervention,” Gwala added.

The IFP is calling on government to map out this strategy in recovering illegal firearms and ensure that they are not used to destablilise the country before or after the May 8 national and provincial elections.

“The availability of the illegally owned guns is one of the major challenges the government is facing in restoring security in the country. As the IFP we are of the opinion that there needs to be a discussion about illegal firearms in this country – a national discussion.

“The IFP calls on South Africans to have faith and support the SAPS in carrying out investigations into cases of national interest,” Gwala concluded.

Source: News24.com