ANC shocked and saddened by senseless murder of seven family members in Umvoti

4 October 2017

It's a matter of great pain and sadness that today we have woken up to the news of brutal killing of seven women of Sibiya family in Embangweni village, Ward 13, Umvoti Local Municipality on the Midlands. 

This is deeply devastating and we send our heartfelt condolences to the family and wishing those in hospital a speedy recovery. Although details regarding the brutal murder of Sibiya family members remain sketchy but it appears that unknown assassin stormed in two family homes few meters apart and opened fire leaving seven females dead. The killers also doused with petrol the houses with the deceased and set them alight.   

Clearly something is not right in our province and needs all of us beyond political affiliations to join hands in an effort to defeat this new tendency. The ANC believes that our success in this regard will not depend of heavy reliance of conspiracies and depressing gossip, but concrete findings and understanding of the challenge at hand.  It is possible and we will succeed when none of us succumb to the temptation of losing hope. 

The African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal calls on our people black and white, young and old to work with law enforcement agencies in combating crime and corruption. We must summon from within and among us the courage, resilient and tenacity to confront these difficulties driven by the conviction that as Africans, we are older than problems. 

The ANC and its government will continue, working side by side with the great masses of our people from all walks of life, searching for lasting solutions to overcome the painful trajectory of killings. This is a matter of deep pain but these thugs and criminals are incapable of obliterating our determination to succeed. 

The struggle continues!!

Issued by Mdumiseni Ntuli, ANC Provincial Spokesperson, ANC KZN, 4 October 2017