A businessman has revealed that one of the suspects in the Kiernan “AKA” Forbes murder case once stormed a meeting that was discussing the R1.2-billion Umkhomazi dam project and demanded a security tender.
According to the businessman who asked not to be named, the suspect allegedly told the meeting, held in 2021, that if he did not get the security tender, “someone was going to die — kukhona ozofa”.
Two years later in July 2023, Xolani Chamane, an executive for infrastructure at the Umngeni-Uthukela Water Board, one of the stakeholders in the project, was shot and killed in Durban.
Sihle Mavuso presents more news bites from KwaZulu-Natal.
Vryheid – A senior member of the ANC in Zululand has survived an apparently politically motivated shooting incident. Lawrence Dube who is also a councillor of the party in the AbaQulusi (Vryheid) local municipality was shot six times in his car while entering his yard in one of the suburbs in the town on Thursday evening. Dube is also the chairperson of the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco), having taken over after the ANC’s alliance partner fired former president Jacob Zuma two weeks ago. Dube has opened a case with the police in Vryheid and Sanco hopes the gunmen will be caught soon.
Ntuzuma – The police in KwaZulu-Natal say they have arrested two men who tried to corner and kill a police officer who was driving in Newlands East on Thursday night. The officer was able to outwit the suspected criminals and fought back. He later circulated the details of the car the attackers were using and they were cornered and arrested in Ntuzuma in Durban. The incident comes as earlier this week police officers came under fire while patrolling in the notorious township of KwaMakhutha in Durban.
Durban – eThekwini municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has said the city’s adjusted budget for 2023-24 prioritises infrastructure repairs, maintenance, and other pressing matters. Kaunda said with the adjusted budget, the city has allocated R115-million for electricity upgrades to deal with faults and made R100-million available for water and sanitation, electricity and road infrastructure. Furthermore, Kaunda said R100-million was set aside to deal with the damage caused by floods that battered the city in January.
Pictured above: The AKA murder suspects.
Image source: File
