Africa-Press – South-Africa. The chairperson of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, believes the spike in the killing of party members and leaders will only be deterred if law enforcement officials “arrest, prosecute and convict perpetrators of crime for lengthy jail terms”.
“Killing a person is a criminal offence, so such incidents should be treated as such. Any effort to depart from this can only worsen the situation. Any criminals, who go around killing people for political ambitions, must be arrested and the law must put them in prison for longer sentences,” said Mantashe.
He cautioned that any intervention by the governing party should not overshadow the fact that the job of deterring criminality was the responsibility of law enforcement officials.
He said:
“At the end of the day, you can only deal with crime by arresting, prosecuting and convicting criminals. There is nothing else that deters criminality,” said Mantashe.
His comments came as two more ANC leaders lost their lives after being gunned down in the Eastern Cape.
On Monday, an ANC ward councillor in Nelson Mandela Bay, Andile Andries, and a regional executive committee member, Lubabalo Keso, were shot dead outside Andries’ home.
Two more ANC leaders murdered in Nelson Mandela Bay region
In February, another ward councillor, Zwelandile Booi, was gunned down in the province.
Just last week, an ANC member, 38-year-old Ofentse Nkomo, was gunned down at a branch general meeting in Mothotlung, a sub-region in Madibeng in the North West, causing the gathering to collapse. A 30-year-old party member was also wounded during the incident.
Two weeks ago, ANC Youth League task team member and branch deputy secretary in Ward 67, Mfundo Mokoena, was shot dead.
The ANC in the Eastern Cape echoed similar sentiments to Mantashe – and called on a special police task force to be set up to investigate politically-motivated killings.
Speaking to News24, the ANC’s provincial spokesperson, Loyiso Magqashela, said the request for a special police task team dedicated to investigating politically-related killings was not only being made now, but dated back to February 2022.
Magqashela said:
He said the party had not heard back from either the premier, the MEC or the police regarding their request.
“We would have expected feedback by now – but, unfortunately, these killings are continuing, and we have not heard anything in this regard. Whether the team was set up or deployed, we are still in the dark,” said Magqashela.
Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, SAPS Eastern Cape spokesperson, Thembinkosi Kinana, and the provincial government had yet to respond to News24 regarding the request in February for a special task team.
Leading up to the local government elections in 2021, the ANC secretary-general’s office revealed that it was in consultation with the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster to come up with solutions to the increasing politically-motivated killings – but no updates had been given on the strategies implemented.
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