Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news. 

Pietermaritzburg: The Pietermaritzburg High Court has instructed the Speaker of the KZN Legislature to remove NFP MEC for Social Development Mbali Shinga, to make way for party president Ivan Barnes as the new member of the House.

The ruling, made on Tuesday morning, follows the NFP’s National Working Committee taking its fight against Shinga to court, accusing Speaker Nontembeko Boyce of failing to enforce the party’s decision to replace Shinga with Barnes, a request first made in July.

“Directing the second respondent to give effect to the applicant’s letter dated 6 July 2026, addressed to the second respondent in terms of Section 106(3)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, and to do all things necessary to declare vacant the seat held by the first respondent in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature,” the ruling read.

This marks the end of a legal battle stretching back to December last year, when Shinga was first expelled for refusing to support an MKP-sponsored motion of no confidence against Premier Thami Ntuli, voting instead with her Government of Provincial Unity colleagues. Since then, Shinga had repeatedly won interim protection from the same court, in December, on the grounds that the NFP’s national leadership lacked the authority to discipline her, and again in June, when the court ruled she remained an MPL pending a full review of her expulsion. The NFP holds the single seat that completes the Government of Provincial Unity’s majority in the province, making this dispute pivotal to the coalition’s stability.

The NFP has been fighting for Barnes to replace Shinga in a bid to help the MKP unseat the IFP-led Government of Provincial Unity, which includes the ANC, DA and NFP.

Pinetown: The criminal matter involving National Assembly member Fadiel Adams is set for a pre-trial conference on 16 October.

Adams faces three counts of fraud and two counts of defeating the administration of justice. Last Friday, the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court confirmed he remains out on bail, subject to conditions previously imposed by the court.

Ugu District: The KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is warning communities of severe thunderstorms predicted across most of the province, which could lead to localised flooding.

The areas most at risk are mostly in Ugu District, on the KZN South Coast. On Tuesday, the South African Weather Service issued a Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms, heavy downpours, strong winds and lightning, expected to begin around 10am and continue through the day across the southern and eastern parts of the province. The department warned the storms could cause localised flooding, damage to infrastructure and settlements, and road accidents due to slippery roads and poor visibility. KZN Cogta MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has activated the Provincial Disaster Management Centre, placing all municipalities on high alert.

Pictured above: KZN Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce ordered by the Pietermaritzburg High Court to remove Mbali Shinga from the Legislature.

Image source: KZN Legislature Speaker/Facebook Page

Celani Sikhakhane brings KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Pongola: A 17-year-old maiden, Amahle Kweyama from Richmond, was injured after being struck by a vehicle outside Mashobeni Royal Palace during this year’s Reed Dance, suffering a fractured leg.

The driver, who works for a car dealership in Ulundi, was arrested after a breathalyser test conducted by Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers recorded a reading of 0.74mg of alcohol per litre of breath, nearly three times the legal limit. KZN Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma said Kweyama has since recovered and returned home, and thanked RTI officers, community leaders and health professionals for their swift response. He said the driver is expected to appear in court.

The incident came despite an extensive safety operation over the weekend, during which more than 76 “No Nonsense” RTI and Operation Shanela officers were deployed for roadblocks and vehicle inspections. A separate motorist delivering bread and water for maidens and guests was also arrested for drunk driving after failing a breathalyser test with a reading of 0.29mg/l, along with a female motorist recording 0.30mg/l and another male motorist recording 2.00mg/l. Duma said more than 100 buses and 700 taxis were used to transport maidens, with traffic officers deployed from Jozini, uMhlabuyalingana, Inkosi uMtubatuba, uPhongolo and Abaqulusi local municipalities.

eThekwini: KZN Cogta MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has commended emergency responders for their swift action in containing a fire at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in eThekwini on Monday.

eThekwini Fire Services received an emergency call at around 12:13pm and dispatched two fire engines and a water tanker to the scene. Preliminary assessments indicate around 20 informal structures were destroyed; no injuries or fatalities have been reported. Affected residents are currently being sheltered by neighbouring community members while disaster response teams assess humanitarian needs. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, with Cogta’s Provincial Disaster Management Centre coordinating with eThekwini Municipality to provide relief to affected families.

KwaNdengezi: A 19-year-old pupil was shot dead in front of classmates at a school in KwaNdengezi, near Pinetown, west of Durban, on Monday morning.

KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the shooter was apparently wearing the same school uniform as the victim, and that the two were seen walking into Ndengezi Intermediate School together shortly before the shooting. The gunman allegedly shot the pupil several times before fleeing. The pupil was declared dead at the scene.

Pictured above: A drunk driver was arrested after striking and injuring a 17-year-old Reed Dance maiden outside eMashobeni Royal Palace.

Image source: KZN Department of Transport

Ugandan army troops removed the palace guards. A king’s own family stands accused of hiding an heir no one has met. In Britain, none of this would have happened, and that’s exactly the point, writes Celani Sikhakhane in Royal Mzansi.

A bitter battle over the throne of one of Africa’s oldest monarchies, the Tooro Kingdom in Uganda, has turned royal succession into a spectacle, and made the case for African monarchs to rethink how they choose their next king.

King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who became the world’s youngest reigning monarch when he took the throne at age three in 1995, died on 27 August in the United States, where he was being treated for cancer, aged 34 after a 31-year reign. As the kingdom prepared for his burial, a bitter succession dispute erupted before his body had even been laid to rest.

A 21-member Royal Succession Committee of the Babiito clan announced Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a television news anchor and the late king’s cousin, as the new Omukama of Tooro. The decision was immediately rejected by the king’s immediate family, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa and his sisters, Princess Ruth Komuntale and Princess Elizabeth Bagaya, who said the choice ignored a will left by King Oyo naming his own son as heir.

The dispute escalated sharply. The Queen Mother said Ugandan army troops removed the royal guards from the palace without notice and were deployed around it, with the family effectively confined inside during the standoff. Adding to the controversy, the reported son’s identity, age and whereabouts have not been publicly disclosed, and a prominent Ugandan commentator closely tied to the country’s army chief has publicly questioned the claim, saying the kingdom deserves to know the mother’s identity before accepting an unknown son as king.

The clan committee has stood firm, saying Oyo left no son by their reckoning, and that anyone who disputes their choice should take the matter to court.

This kind of very public, very messy succession fight is exactly what African monarchies risk when succession plans are unclear, unpublished, or open to dispute after a king’s death. Compare this to Britain, where Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022 caused no succession crisis at all, the line of succession had been public for generations, and King Charles III’s own succession by Prince William is already just as settled. In Monaco, Hereditary Prince Jacques, the 11-year-old son of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, is publicly recognised as heir, while Albert’s eldest son, Alexandre Grimaldi, born outside marriage, has been openly and clearly excluded from the succession, with no ambiguity left for dispute.

African monarchies don’t share one single approach to succession. Eswatini’s system already avoids the kind of dispute now playing out in Uganda: the reigning king cannot choose his own successor. Instead, a royal council known as the Liqoqo selects one of the king’s wives as Indlovukazi, the great wife, and her son automatically becomes the next king. The AbaThembu kingdom follows a broadly similar approach. Others, including the Zulu, amaXhosa, amaMpondo and Bapedi kingdoms, still rely on more open-ended succession customs, which have repeatedly led to court battles over the throne, since no single method of choosing an heir is trusted by everyone involved.

Perhaps more African monarchies should consider clearer, publicly known succession plans, along the lines of Eswatini, the AbaThembu, Britain or Monaco, to spare their nations the kind of public embarrassment, and real division within royal families and communities, that Uganda is now going through during what should be a period of mourning.

Pictured above: The late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Tooro, whose will has been rejected by the clan’s succession committee, as a bitter fight over the throne unfolds in Uganda. 

Image source: Tooro Kingdom

Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Durban: KZN Premier Thami Ntuli has called on Home Affairs officials to move swiftly to process people gathered outside the Che Guevara (Moore Road) Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Durban.

Scores of people from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania have been camping outside the centre, saying they have faced threats from South Africans. 

Ntuli said helping those willing to reintegrate would go a long way toward building social cohesion and improving relations between local residents and immigrant communities.

Kokstad: Police in KwaZulu-Natal are offering a R50,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of three-year-old Banele Mshubi’s remains, last seen in December 2025 in the Marikana area of Kokstad, southern KwaZulu-Natal.

The child was only reported missing on 4 January 2026. Investigations led to the arrest of his 27-year-old mother for failing to report him missing. She told police her 43-year-old boyfriend assaulted the child over a missing USB drive, and that she believed the boyfriend had assaulted the child to death, though she was unsure where he had buried the body. The boyfriend was also arrested and charged with murder. Both appeared in the Kokstad Magistrate’s Court, where the mother was released on bail while the boyfriend was remanded in custody pending further investigation; he is also linked to a separate murder case in Harding. Banele’s body has not been found, and police are offering the reward for credible information that could lead to the recovery of his remains.

Utrecht: The community of Madlangeni, near Newcastle in northern KwaZulu-Natal, has had its hopes for a reliable water supply restored, after being told the Zaaihoek Dam will finally provide water to local residents.

The announcement was made this week by Amajuba District Mayor Thembelihle Mthembu, during the sod-turning ceremony for an R8-million sewage treatment plant in eMadlangeni. He told the community that the district has finally secured a licence to draw water from the Zaaihoek Dam.

Residents have fought for years over the dam, saying they suffered water shortages despite the dam sitting in their own backyard, while it supplied water to other provinces, including Mpumalanga. Zaaihoek Dam was built in 1988 to supply water to industries and municipalities, but the eMadlangeni community was left out of that original plan. The new licence will allow the dam to provide more than 2 billion litres of water annually to eMadlangeni communities.

Pictured above: KZN Premier Thami Ntuli addresses the media outside the Che Guevara (Moore Road) Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Durban.

Image source: KZN Gov

Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Pinetown: Traffic police in KwaZulu-Natal have stopped a dangerous bus from carrying young women to the annual Reed Dance.

The bus was heading to Pongola for the big event on Friday. But inspectors at the Road Traffic Inspectorate in Pinetown pulled it off the road.

They found that the bus had broken brakes. The driver’s seat was also completely loose.

Transport MEC Siboniso Duma said a loose seat is a death trap. If the seat shifts while the bus is moving, the driver can lose control. This could cause a massive crash with other cars on the road.

The eThekwini municipality is sending thousands of young women to the Reed Dance this weekend. Because of this, the transport department is checking every single bus to keep the passengers safe.

The strict checks bring back bad memories of a terrible crash in 2013. Nine people died after the Reed Dance when their bus crashed on the R66. Seven young women and two adults lost their lives while travelling from Nongoma to Port Shepstone. Investigators later found that the bus had broken brakes.

UMsinga: Police have caught a 40-year-old woman wanted for the murder of DJ Warras.

The woman was hiding out in Msinga, deep in KwaZulu-Natal. Police say she is linked to the killing of the DJ in Gauteng in December 2025.

Detectives and visible policing officers got a tip-off about her hiding place on Wednesday afternoon.

They followed the clues to a homestead in the Ngcengeni area. Officers moved in quickly and arrested her before she could get away.

The woman is currently in police custody in KwaZulu-Natal. Officers will hand her over to the police in Gauteng. She will face her murder charges there.

Madadeni: A 40-year-old man will spend the next 35 years in jail for a brutal rape and robbery.

The Madadeni Regional Court in Newcastle found Themba Mazibuko guilty and handed down the heavy sentence this week.

The attack happened in April 2013. A woman was walking home in the evening after getting out of a taxi. She did not know Mazibuko.

He suddenly attacked her while carrying a knife. He forced her into a quiet, hidden area off the street.

Mazibuko raped the woman in the dark. He then grabbed her cellphone and her cash and ran away.

It took 13 years, but the National Prosecuting Authority finally made sure Mazibuko pays for his crimes. He will serve a direct prison sentence for the rape and the robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Pictured above: Traffic inspectors remove a broken bus set to transport maidens to the Reed Dance in Pongola.

Image source: KZNRTI

Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Hluhluwe: Personal staff of the Zulu King survived a horrific car accident on the N2 on Tuesday afternoon while driving to eMashobeni Royal Palace in Pongola, northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Those in the vehicle included the King’s praise singer, his chef, Private Office Chief Director Nododile Ndamase, and a bodyguard. According to emergency services, the royal vehicle lost control while trying to avoid a head-on collision with a truck, and the car veered off the road, narrowly avoiding rolling into the Hluhluwe River after being stopped by a tree.

The staff were part of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s entourage, returning from a meeting in Johannesburg. After landing at King Shaka International Airport, they had been travelling with the King, but stopped at a filling station in Hluhluwe to refuel, causing them to fall behind the King’s convoy as it continued on to the palace.

“They then drove back to the N2, trying to catch up with the King’s convoy. When the driver tried to overtake, they were faced with an oncoming truck. They managed to avoid the danger, but their car lost control and almost rolled into the river alongside the N2 in Hluhluwe. Fortunately, they were stopped by a tree, which damaged the vehicle, but the occupants were taken for medical attention, with some sustaining serious injuries,” said an emergency official who asked not to be named.

Ndamase confirmed the accident but declined to share further details.

Durban: The Durban Regional Court has sentenced a 41-year-old man to 25 years’ direct imprisonment for the rape and attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, in an incident that occurred in August 2025 in the Shongweni Dam area.

The accused and the complainant had ended their relationship before the incident, but he continued pursuing her to reconcile. She refused and eventually reported this to her family, after which he relocated and she did not see him again. On 17 August 2025, the complainant saw the accused while socialising with friends at a local venue. She avoided him and left for home; he followed her and again begged her to reconcile, which she refused. He then stabbed her in the back and under her left arm, causing her to bleed profusely.

Ingwavuma: The R359-million construction of Mosvold Hospital in Nkungwini village, Ingwavuma, has been described as a major investment in rural healthcare.

KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane visited the construction site to inspect progress on the project, which is currently around 63% complete and expected to be finished within a year. The upgrade includes a 40-unit staff accommodation block for healthcare professionals, a 22-bed paediatric unit, and a mothers’ lodge able to house 18 women and their babies. The existing paediatric unit will be converted into a nursery, alongside upgrades to the hospital’s road infrastructure. Simelane said the project forms part of the department’s ongoing investment in improving healthcare facilities across uMkhanyakude and other rural districts.

Pictured above: King Misuzulu kaZwelithini and Private Office Chief Director Nododile Ndamase, who survived a car accident along with other royal staff on Tuesday.

Image source: Zulu Royal Kingdom

Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Durban: The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has described the first clean audit received by the once chaotic Department of Public Works and Infrastructure as a major milestone, after years of failing to account for public spending.

The clean audit follows the department taking a strong stance against construction mafias and corruption that had been costing taxpayers without accountability. Officials faced death threats over their stance, including bullet casings found on a state vehicle and left at the doorstep of department offices.

The department has previously faced serious corruption problems, including senior officials irregularly appointing service providers, costing taxpayers millions of rand, and construction mafias disrupting sites and illegally occupying government buildings across the province.

On Monday, DA leadership in the province said the turnaround came since Martin Meyer took over as MEC for the department and Dr Vish Govender was appointed Head of Department. Meyer credited the milestone to strict financial controls, tighter supply chain management and administrative reforms led by Govender. While the Auditor-General commended the department’s internal controls, it noted that payments to contractors remain an area requiring further improvement.

Madadeni: The Madadeni Regional Court has sentenced Thabiso Mokoena and Zama Mhlanga to life imprisonment for kidnapping, murder and defeating the administration of justice, in connection with the death of Musawenkosi Sithole in Osizweni in November 2022.

Their co-accused, Bandile Radebe and Sanele Hlatshwayo, were convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder and sentenced to an effective 15 years’ imprisonment.

The court heard that on 7 November 2022, Sithole was at a house with friends when the four accused arrived. Mokoena suspected Sithole of stealing rims from his vehicle. After interrogating him, the group forced Sithole into Mokoena’s bakkie, tied him up with rope and drove him to a bridge in an industrial area in Madadeni, where the assault continued. Sithole was kicked, beaten with sticks and gagged with a sock. Mhlanga then repeatedly struck him on the head with a stone. Once Sithole became motionless, Mokoena and Mhlanga threw him into a river.

Dundee: KZN Cogta MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has invoked Section 154 of the Constitution to deploy a technical expert to Endumeni Local Municipality in Dundee, northern KZN, after the municipality repeatedly failed to adopt its 2026/27 budget.

Governance specialist Thando Manda has been appointed to provide direct technical support and help resolve the institutional challenges that stalled the budget process. The intervention follows Endumeni missing its statutory 30 June deadline and a subsequent extended deadline of 31 July, after which the municipality faced the risk of dissolution and provincial administration under Section 139(4) of the Constitution. Cogta’s latest intervention is aimed at stabilising operations and maintaining service delivery before that more drastic step becomes necessary. Manda will work alongside Mayor Cllr Mcebo Mkhize, the municipal manager and the full council, submitting weekly progress reports to the MEC.

Pictured above: KZN MEC for Public Works Martin Meyer and HOD Dr Vish Govender, who received a clean audit for the first time after taking on corruption and construction mafias that had cost taxpayers without accountability. 

Image source: Department of Public Works and Infrastructure

Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Hluhluwe: Communities in the rural villages of kwaHluhluwe, under uMkhanyakude, who have gone without proper roads since the apartheid era, finally saw their prayers answered after contractors were appointed to build a road connecting seven villages.

The community gathered at kwaMakhasa in Hluhluwe over the weekend to welcome the new contractors for the Skhwakwanani-Ngwenya Road, appointed by Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality to begin construction on the project. The move follows years of outcry from residents who have struggled to access basic services because of the lack of roads, with community members saying even emergency vehicles have been unable to reach people in urgent need.

Phikisiwe Gumede, from eNyathini village, said her village has never had a proper road since she was born, forcing residents to walk long distances just to reach transport into town. She said the community will finally feel free once the project is complete, after losing family members who spent years complaining about the state of the roads.

Big Five Hlabisa Mayor Comfort Khumalo told community members the road will run from eNyathini through villages including Bhojabhoja and Makhombana, connecting further villages beyond.

Nongoma:Three suspects in a cash-in-transit heist in Nongoma, northern KZN, have been arrested in Durban, where they were hiding out.

The heist took place in the Nkunzana area of Nongoma on 6 August 2026, when security guards travelling from Pongola to Nongoma to deliver cash for a pension payout were ambushed along the R66. Suspects travelling in two vehicles opened fire on the armoured cash van before fleeing towards Magudu, where they allegedly burnt both getaway vehicles and continued in a VW Combi towards Ngome. The armoured vehicle was abandoned near Nkamani Dam, and the suspects allegedly hijacked another vehicle, later found abandoned at Mondlo township, before fleeing towards Gluckstadt, where they abandoned the Combi and the hijacked vehicle. Police recovered R23,000 in damaged cash notes, a cellphone, balaclavas, live ammunition and cartridges from the abandoned Combi. Following an intensive investigation, three suspects, aged 37, 39 and 51, were arrested in Durban.

Mandeni: KZN Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli has issued a stern warning to officials who collude with criminals by leaking confidential information, after his planned oversight visit to the kwaSithebe Industrial Zone in Mandeni was disrupted on Monday morning.

Ntuli had planned to inspect compliance among companies employing documented workers. According to employees at one manufacturing company in the area, certain law enforcement officials allegedly tipped off employers ahead of the planned operation. Ntuli said the setback would not deter the provincial government from enforcing regulations protecting workers’ rights and ensuring fair labour practices.

Pictured above: Community members and Big Five Hlabisa Local Municipality officials at the sod-turning ceremony for the Skhwakwanani-Ngwenya Road, which will connect seven villages in Hluhluwe.

Image source: Supplied by Big Five Hlabisa Municipality

Long before he ruled the Zulu nation, a young king vanished for three years, hiding under a false name to escape assassins. Now, his grandson’s rival is using the same story against another royal heir, writes Celani Sikhakhane in Royals Mzansi.

Hiding an heir to the throne is a long-standing tradition across many African kingdoms, used both to protect royal lineage and to shield young princes and princesses from kidnapping or assassination by rivals within their own family.

This practice has come back into focus this week, during the hearing on the Balobedu throne battle at the Pretoria High Court. Queen Masalanabo Modjadji VII was taken into hiding by the Balobedu after the death of her mother, Queen Makobo Modjadji VI, in 2005, a death that itself raised many questions within the royal family. Those opposing her ascension to the throne have pointed to her time in hiding as a weakness, claiming it left her unfamiliar with the kingdom’s core cultural rituals and its language, Khelobedu, and that she instead grew up learning English and a Western lifestyle disconnected from her kingdom.

The Zulu nation has faced similar tensions. When King Misuzulu kaZwelithini took over the throne from his late father, King Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, those opposed to his ascension claimed he could not speak isiZulu properly, since he had grown up partly in the United States and in Eswatini with his uncle, King Mswati III.

Those critics may have forgotten that the late King Zwelithini himself spent years in hiding as a young man. Following the death of his father, King Cyprian Bhekuzulu, in 1968, Zwelithini went into hiding amid rumours of assassination, taking refuge in KwaNdebele in the then Northern Transvaal for three years, under the protection of his brother-in-law, Prince Klaas Mahlangu, who was married to his sister, Princess Orah Nonhlanhla kaBhekuzulu. He returned to be installed as king in 1971, after turning 21 and marrying for the first time.

The tradition extends beyond South Africa. In Uganda, during succession tensions with the expansionist Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom, young Prince Kaboyo was hidden for his safety by the Bakonzo people in the Rwenzori Mountains. 

He later returned to claim his legacy, establishing the independent Tooro Kingdom and taking the royal title Kasusunkwanzi Olimi I. Regional oral histories recount that armies attempted to capture him, but he remained protected by the Bakonzo in the mountains until it was safe to return.

Pictured above: King Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, who ascended the throne soon after his return from hiding in the KwaNdebele Kingdom.

Image source: KZN Office of the Premier

Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.

Durban: eThekwini Deputy Mayor Zandile Myeni has left the National Freedom Party and been appointed interim President of the National People’s Ambassadors.

Myeni was officially unveiled on Thursday in Durban, announcing she is no longer part of the NFP, which she joined in 2011 after its founding by the late Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi.

“We are here now at the new home, which is the NPA. Our aim is to work for our people and plead with those who are no longer interested in voting to change their mind and vote for us to bring change in communities. We understand that there are people who complain that they have been voting but never see any change. I am calling on those people to vote for the NPA, which is the party that will put the needs of the people first,” Myeni said.

She takes over the party from its founder, Nathi Mthethwa, not related to the late South African Ambassador to France of the same name. Mthethwa was forced to give up leadership of the NPA last month after being appointed to the KZN Legislature for MKP in 2024. Despite being an MKP member, Mthethwa continued to lead the NPA until last month, when he was told to choose between the two.

The party also announced former Nongoma mayor, Jeremiah Mavundla, formerly of the NFP, as its newest member.

uMlalazi: The IFP says it is shocked and deeply angered by the murder of its Ward 17 councillor candidate in uMlalazi Local Municipality, Cllr Khethelo Mdluli, 40.

Mdluli, who had served as an IFP PR councillor since 2021, was shot in front of his children at his home in oPhindweni, Gingindlovu, on Thursday evening last week. He died of his injuries on Monday at Ngwelezane Hospital. The IFP condemned the killing in the strongest terms, saying there can be no justification for taking a human life, and no place in the country’s democracy for political violence, intimidation or the assassination of those who serve their communities.

Durban: A report into corruption in Metro Police recruitment has found that R420,000 allegedly changed hands, with members of the public scammed by a suspended employee who promised jobs that never materialised.

This was revealed by eThekwini City Manager Musa Mbhele this week. Mbhele confirmed the existence of two reports compiled by the city’s Integrity and Investigations Directorate, which examined alleged irregularities in Metro Police recruitment. The Nexus Report, completed in 2020, investigated two recruitment intakes from the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years, flagging four officers appointed irregularly; following legal processes, those appointments were later upheld. The second report, the Isiqu Report, investigated the 2023/24 recruitment intake and recommended disciplinary action against four officials, an Authorised Officer, two Human Capital officials and a Business Support employee. 

Metro Police Commissioner Sbonelo Mchunu urged the public to be wary of scammers posing as officials and soliciting bribes with false promises of jobs within the Metro Police.

Pictured above: eThekwini Deputy Mayor Zandile Myeni addressing the media on Thursday as the newly appointed President of the NPA, after leaving the NFP.

Image source: Celani Sikhakhane