The traditional leader of the Zuma clan in Mpendle in the kwaZulu-Natal Midlands will spend more days behind bars before knowing whether he will be granted bail or not for the alleged murder a DA councillor.
This is after the Howick Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday postponed the bail decision on Inkosi Simphiwe Zuma (55) to Friday this week.
Zuma applied for bail after he was arrested by the political killings task team for allegedly ordering the hit on councillor Nhlalayenza Ndlovu in December 2023. Ndlovu was killed while travelling from his home in Mpophomeni to Underberg in December 2023.
Dispute over electricity payment motive
Ndlovu and Zuma are related. The hit was ordered after he allegedly told residents to stop paying an electricity transformer fee to a local extortion group operating in the area. Ndlovu allegedly told the residents that only Eskom or the municipality can collect money from them. And that angered Zuma, who claims the Mpophomeni area belongs to the Nxamalala traditional authority. He is the head of the Mpophomeni area.
Prior to his arrest, Zuma was already out on bail for allegedly killing another relative, Qalokunye Zuma. The latter was one of his trusted headmen in his chiefdom.
While Zuma was still fighting to get freed on bail, the political killings task team added more charges. It pinned the November 2022 killing of Xolani Ndlovu Ntombela on him and established that he hired a 23-year-old hitman to kill him.
Another murder over land dispute
A preliminary investigation by the task team has so far revealed the motive for the hit on Ndlovu Ntombela. He was allegedly murdered for exposing the illegal sales of land in Emasosheni, in the Mpophomeni area.
Magistrate Sandy Sindane said she was not ready to hand down the judgment. She moved the matter to Friday.
The postponement has left the DA concerned. The party’s provincial leader, Francois Rodgers, said it was concerning that the bail hearing has dragged for so long.
“This is now the third time that this case has been postponed. It is worrying that we’ve had these delays at just the bail application/s stage. We are calling on the Department of Justice to play its role. To ensure that the family and loved ones get closure, speedily,” he said.
