NFP denies instability

Reports of an exodus of members and claims of a splinter group waging war were running rampant this week, as the National Freedom Party (NFP) was rocked by seemingly irreversible divisions.

This week’s brutal killing of two of its members in Keate’s Drift fanned tensions in the once volatile area, especially after fears that the pair had been killed by an opposition party. Fingers were immediately pointed at the IFP, from which the NFP split just weeks before local government elections last year.

However, the IFP was quick to dispel rumours that it was at war with the NFP, with MPL Blessed Gwala telling a radio station that “whenever the NFP lost members, it pointed fingers”.

While senior NFP national executive committee (NEC) members frantically attempted put a spin on the killing, members on the ground revealed all was not well within the party. This follows months of in-fighting, which has emerged as a prime motive for the killing of two of the party’s leaders in the Msinga area outside Greytown on Tuesday evening.

Minutes after leaving a meeting just after 5pm, Bongani Shelembe, the party’s Msinga chairman, and Lungisile Zuma, its youth league secretary, were gunned down in Shelembe’s Mercedes-Benz. Both were killed with high-calibre weapons.

Shelembe’s personal assistant, Thulephi Mbatha, who was wounded in the ambush, is recuperating in the local Church of Scotland Hospital. The Tribune was refused permission to interview him.

Shelembe, who has six wives, is a former Msinga ward councillor. He was also a local businessman who owned six shops in the Keate’s Drift area. The Tribune understands he was one of the party’s key benefactors and although he had refused a key position during the party’s elective conference last year, he was very much a hands-on supporter.

His name, according to a Pomeroy member, had in the past week been linked with a splinter group, the African National Freedom Party, which has been registered with the Independent Electoral Commission.

During a press briefing at its offices on Friday, members of the NFP NEC vehemently denied there was in-fighting in the party, and instead blamed the killing on rampant criminal activity.

The NEC admitted it was aware of the splinter party, but said any party had a right to exist.

“People have freedom of affiliation,” said secretary-general Professor Nhlanhla Khubisa.

NFP national chairman Maliyakhe Shelembe – who is not related to the deceased – told journalists on Friday that there had been speculation in the media that internal strife within the party was believed to be behind the murders.

“As the NFP we want to put it on record that we don’t know who killed our comrades and we also do not know the motive behind their murders,” he said.

Asked if he had heard of any in-fighting, Shelembe he was aware of such talk, but that he could not substantiate it.

“We are just hearing about it, but there’s no tangible evidence.”

NFP president Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, who is on an overseas trip, condemned the killing and called on police to expedite the investigation, while also urging calm among the rank and file.

Bongani Shelembe’s son, Sphesihle, who spoke to the Tribune yesterday, said he did not know anything about what had happened to his father. He said the family was distraught and was seeking privacy at this time of grief.

“My father was a good person, who loved people and was loved by all in the area. We do not want to speculate,” said Sphesihle, who was busy working at his father’s Keate’s Drift liquor store.

The Mercury reported this week that insiders said the party’s provincial leaders had, for months, tried to quell hostilities between councillors and officials in the area. At least three meetings had been called in a bid to resolve differences, but without any luck, with some councillors being hauled before disciplinary hearings.

The paper quoted Zakhele Ngcobo, the NFP’s Mzinyathi chairman, as confirming claims that the attack could have been an inside job. He said there was a power struggle between the party’s councillors at the Msinga municipality and party leaders at a local level.

“The relationship between the local councillors and local party leaders has never been good. This was definitely politically motivated,” said Ngcobo.

Yesterday members had gone to ground and calls were ignored.

No arrests have been made, and police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker said no motive had been established. He said a special team of detectives had been assembled to probe the matter.

Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Willies Mchunu this week condemned the attack. “This is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated,” said Mchunu.

The NFP is in charge of the Nongoma and eDumbe municipality and co-governs in 19 hung municipalities in KZN following last year’s local government elections.

nathi.olifant@inl.co.za