Durban — Political analysts in KwaZulu-Natal have backed the NFP’s call for the government to provide security for its councillors, especially in Nongoma.
This was after National Freedom Party (NFP) leader Canaan Mdletshe reiterated the call that councillors be provided with security due to an increase in threats. He added that the government must also provide councillors with body cameras to capture attacks on them.
“These cameras (body cameras) must be linked to members of the national political (and) police killings unit, as well members of the organised crime unit and the Hawks.
“Body cameras have proven to work in the City of Cape Town where they are currently being utilised by metro police. We believe this latest technology cannot prevent councillors from being attacked. However, we firmly believe that they could come in handy as police would be able to identify the attackers, and they could also serve as a deterrent,” Mdletshe said.
On Thursday, Mdletshe told the Daily News that NFP councillors in Nongoma were under siege and drastic measures needed to be put in place to stop “these senseless attacks”.
He added that the party believed that its councillors were being targeted, because it was known that the NFP was unable to replace the dead councillors because of the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s ban. He claimed that the intention of the attacks was to take power after killing a certain number of his party’s councillors.
Dr Fikile Vilakazi, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Politics and Public Policy Department, said the NFP’s call was justified and the government was duty-bound to provide safety to the councillors.
“I don’t understand why they were not given protection like all other public officials, because it has been proven that lives are in danger. It is now known that NFP councillors in Nongoma are under threat,” said Vilakazi.
She added that since the country would be holding general elections next year, it was important for police to deploy more boots on the ground.
Her sentiment was echoed by Zululand University-based Professor Sipho Seepe, who called on the NFP to take the matter to court. Seepe said it was the councillors’ constitutional right to have protection provided by the state.
Mdletshe’s call came after a visit on Wednesday by the Inter-Ministerial Committee that was established to deal with political killings in the province.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said those parties that were making a noise and blaming police should look closer to home, because the attacks may be coming from within.
He claimed that some councillors were faking the attacks so that they could motivate for their security companies to guard them.
After updating the public on Wednesday on the progress the committee had made, Cele led the committee members to Nongoma to meet with councillors and political parties in the local municipality.
The NFP is currently governing Nongoma with the ANC and the EFF.
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Daily News