Crime scene. Picture: THE HERALD
NEASY truce between the supporters of the ANC and its alliance partner the SACP is holding in Inchanga, west of Durban, despite heavy tension between the two sides.
At least four people died in fighting between ANC and SACP supporters in Inchanga between the beginning of the year and mid-August.
Two weeks after the August 3 local government elections, the SACP branch leader in Inchanga, Nontsikelelo Blose, was shot dead outside a tavern. In a suspected revenge attack, ANC member Xolani Ngcobo was shot and stoned to death the following day. In January, suspected ANC supporters shot at SACP members at a rally, killing Phillip Dlamini. SACP supporters retaliated and bludgeoned one of the gunmen to death.
Since the latest killings, the police have maintained a heavy presence in the area, often raiding houses in which it is suspected there are illegal firearms, and searching people randomly in the streets.
Past attempts to hold peace and prayer rallies or joint meetings between ANC and SACP supporters in a show of unity, have failed because of prevailing tensions.
But on Sunday, the SACP launched Red October in Inchanga, making sure that it invited ANC and trade union Cosatu leaders to speak in the rally, held at KwaNdokweni Sports grounds.
SACP’s KwaZulu-Natal leader and former eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo said on Monday that Sunday’s rally was one of the signs that the situation in the area was stabilising.
"All the leaders of the alliance and comrades were speaking in one voice, and we hope that the people had listened and there would be no incidents similar to those we had witnessed earlier this year," he said.
He said during interactions with the ANC, SACP leaders had raised issues about the factionalism and gatekeeping of ANC membership, which the SACP believe was the main cause of violence in Inchanga.
"Factionalism is evident everywhere across the country in the ANC. But in Inchanga it was gatekeeping that caused friction and led to violence because people could not even participate in the activities of the ANC because they were blocked from taking up membership. They could not nominate candidates for the elections as councilors because blocked from doing so," he said.
ANC deputy provincial chairperson and KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu urged members of both the ANC and SACP to restrain themselves. He said the KwaZulu-Natal cabinet had decided to establish a commission of inquiry into the political killings in the province, and would also probe killings in Inchanga and take appropriate action after a report is presented.
Members of the public-order policing unit stationed in Inchanga said they would stay in Inchanga until safety assessments proved that violence had ended in the area.