Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Sipho Hlomuka has called on community structures of the Msunduzi Local Municipality to work with the police in addressing cases of mass killings in the area.
Hlomuka made the statement after 10 men were killed by a gang of armed suspects who entered a house in Msunduzi in Taylors Halt, Pietermaritzburg, on Sunday evening. The suspects asked for the whereabouts of the homeowner and when they realised that he was not among the men, the suspects ordered the men to undress, doused them with an accelerant and then set them alight.
Eight men died at the scene, while two died of their injuries in hospital.
Hlomuka called on community structures and the community of Msunduzi to work with the police in arresting the increasing scourge of mass killings.
The department said that the incident had left the community shocked as it was the second incident, weeks apart, within the same policing area.
It said that in April 2023, 10 people from the Memela family were attacked and killed. However, the suspects were arrested within hours of the incident while at a cleansing ceremony, thanks to a tip-off from the community.
Hlomuka called on community structures to reject these kinds of criminality and the incidents of mass killings which are causing panic among community members.
“As a government, we are going to mobilise all community structures to be active in curbing such incidents. It is unacceptable to have so many people killed in such a brutal manner,” Hlomuka said.
“We will be mobilising the communities to unite and defend their areas. We have also engaged with the police management to prioritise this case and act with speed.”
Referring to his budget speech delivered last month, the department said that in this year’s Budget Policy Speech, the department declared war on criminals and committed to consolidating peoples’ efforts to proactively fight crime. To this end, the work of setting up legitimate community structures has started.
The department said that the latest incident happened at a time when the police management launched an additional resource of 188 new vehicles which will be used to fight crime in the province with a focus on areas such as Pietermaritzburg.
Additionally, police arrested more than 8 000 suspects last month for various crimes in the province.
Meanwhile, earlier, DA KZN spokesperson on community safety and liaison Sharon Hoosen said that the Department of Community Safety and Liaison under MEC Hlomuka was still unable to contain the crime wave sweeping through KZN despite a budget of R250 million.
“The DA is extremely concerned about the current situation as there is scarcely a day that goes by without hearing of yet another serious priority crime taking place,” Hoosen said.
She also said that there was no relief for KZN citizens living in fear.
She said that despite the dismal statistics, KZN’s ANC-run Department of Community Safety and Liaison continued to spend millions of taxpayers’ money with no results, “which is criminal in itself”.
“The question is, where is the money going? It is time that the MEC accounted to the people and KZN’s community safety portfolio committee,” Hoosen said.
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