Celani Sikhakhane brings you KwaZulu-Natal’s latest news.
Uitrecht: A small KwaZulu-Natal town is banning residents from slaughtering cows and goats at home even for ancestral rituals. EMadlangeni Local Municipality Mayor Lawrence Buthelezi made the announcement on Wednesday when he tabled the municipality’s 2025/2026 budget of over R100 million. The move comes after community members accused the municipality of failing to enforce its by-laws and allowing lawlessness to take hold in Uitrecht, near Newcastle. Buthelezi said a local abattoir is being fixed up so that residents can take their animals there to be slaughtered legally. “You will be allowed to perform your ancestral rituals with that cow or goat but you have to then take it to the abattoir to slaughter it,” said Buthelezi. He added that the by-laws also ban residents from keeping livestock in the town, which falls within a game reserve where only wildlife is permitted.
King Cetshwayo: The DA in KwaZulu-Natal is raising the alarm over what it says is a cover-up at a housing project in Umlalazi, King Cetshwayo District. The party said Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma told parliament that “no cases have been reported” of people illegally occupying, renting out, or selling RDP houses at the Sunnydale Phase 3 project. But the DA says that contradicts complaints from community members on the ground. At least 21 units are currently under dispute. Residents say some people are living in units they have no right to, while others are renting out their government-issued homes without permission.
Pinetown: Five people, including two former police officers, have been sentenced to 17 years in prison for their roles in a corruption case linked to the 2018 murder of community leader Lawrence Nxumalo. Nxumalo was the chairperson of both the Community Policing Forum and the ANC branch in KwaNdengezi. The Pinetown Regional Court handed down the sentences, which were welcomed by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Those convicted are Bonginkosi Anthony Dlamini, Sibongile Regina Khumalo, Felokwakhe Ndlovu, Khephu Ndlovu, and Lindokuhle Mbonambi. Dlamini and Khephu Ndlovu were serving police officers at the time, with Ndlovu working in the SAPS Political Killings Task Team. The court heard that Felokwakhe Ndlovu, a local induna, had been illegally selling land in the area. Nxumalo repeatedly tried to stop him. In response, Ndlovu plotted to have Nxumalo killed. He was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Pictured above: The executive leadership of eMadlangeni Local Municipality in Uitrecht near Newcastle have tightened the by-laws to ban the slaughter of cows, goats and sheep at homes.
Image source: Celani Sikhakhane
