Johannesburg – It has been three weeks now since heavily armed men kidnapped a KwaZulu-Natal traditional leader and fled with him without a trace.
His distraught family is gripped with fear that the 60-year-old Makhosandile Ngcobo might be dead after the police in the province failed to locate his whereabouts.
“The more days that he is not found, the more terrified we become as the family. It’s close to a month now and he has not been found. The police are following leads, which eventually amount to naught,” said his brother Thokozani Ngcobo.
Ngcobo, the chief regent of the Qiniselani Manyuswa Traditional Council under the Ray Nkonyeni local municipality in the province’s south coast region, was abducted at his Ezinqoleni ancestral home by unknown assailants who were armed to the teeth.
They had masqueraded as police officers. Ngcobo said the kidnapping was linked to the chieftaincy dispute in the royal family.
“There is infighting in the royal family over the rightful heir to the throne. My brother was appointed regent by Kwa- Zulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala until the impasse is resolved. “The people who want to ascend the throne by hook or crook have kidnapped him and God knows what they have done to him. He had no ambitions to become chief and was only requested to act,” said Ngcobo.
The chief regent had survived several attempts on his life. In one incident, he was ambushed by hitmen who fired shots at a vehicle and left him for dead.
At the heart of the schism is the question around the paternity of a candidate who was appointed chief. The royal family ordered that he relinquish the position subject to the verification of his paternity.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said detectives had been dispatched to find the missing traditional leader. Since January 13, traditional leaders have been killed in what is believed to be a plan to destabilise traditional leadership in the province.
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