Another councillor has been shot dead in KwaZulu-Natal.
This time, National Freedom Party (NFP) Nongoma councillor Ntombenhle Mavis Mchunu was ambushed and killed at her home on Sunday morning.
Details remain sketchy as to what led to the brutal murder of Mchunu, who also served as NFP women’s wing chairperson in the Nongoma constituency.
Over several months, the northern KwaZulu-Natal council has seen jostling and fierce contestation over the legitimate party to run the municipality.
The council, which was one of many hung councils in the province following the 2021 municipal elections, is governed by the NFP and ANC coalition.
Recently, Mshangane Ndabandaba of the NFP took over as mayor in place of Albert Mncwango, a long-serving mayor and former IFP MP.
NFP secretary Canaan Mdletshe confirmed the heinous murder, saying it shocked the party.
“It is true that one of our councillors in Nongoma local municipality was callously gunned down today morning,” Mdletshe said.
“We are shocked and terrified by the news. For now, that is what we can say until we meet the family,” he continued.
Last year, following the killing of its councillor in the Amajuba district in Newcastle, Reginald Ndima, the NFP proposed the scrapping of by-elections.
The party argued that rival politicians were carrying out the hits on fellow political opponents to force the by-elections.
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