ANCYL leader's killers pretended to be cops - KZN police
23 November 2017
Durban - KwaZulu-Natal police say the people who shot dead an ANC Youth League leader in the province on Thursday morning had pretended to be policemen.
"The unknown suspects, who pretended to be police officers, ordered the 35-year-old victim to open the door. Upon opening the door, the suspects opened fire at him and he sustained gunshot wounds to his head," said Colonel Thembeka Mbhele.
Sthe Mhlongo, ANCYL deputy secretary in the Moses Mabhida Region and PR councillor in the district of Umgungundlovu, died shortly after being rushed to the Hilton Private Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
He was shot at his home in Mpophomeni at about 02:00.
"A case of murder has been opened for investigation by Mpophomeni police," said Mbhele.
She said the motive for Mhlongo's murder was unknown at this stage.
"It is shocking that a young person of his age can be brutally assassinated in front of his family," provincial ANCYL secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo told News24.
Sabelo said Mhlongo had got married just over a year ago.
"His wife is now a widow," he said.
Sabelo said Mhlongo "played a very crucial role as the deputy secretary of the ANCYL in the Moses Mabhida Region".
'Not going to be bullied'
"There seems to be a concerted effort and a co-ordinated campaign to eliminate up and coming leaders of the ANC who are in the ANCYL. We, however, will not deter from our generational mission.
"If anybody thinks killing us will scare us they are wrong. We will not deter from fighting for the youth of this country and fighting for the country to be economically liberated. We're not going to be bullied. The ANCYL will not die anytime soon," he said.
Sabelo called on Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to prioritise "this matter of the killings in KZN".
Mhlongo's murder follows that of ANC activist Lungisani Mnguni who was shot dead in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Monday, November 20.
Mnguni, 34, was gunned down in Nkanyezini, Camperdown, while on his way to deliver food at a local school.
"The death of comrade Mhlongo adds more pain, as we were still trying to come into terms with the brutal killing of comrade Lungisani Mnguni who was assassinated in Enkanyezini area, Ward 3 of Umkhambathini Local Municipality on Monday morning while conducting his businesses," said Mzi Zuma, ANC Moses Mabhida regional secretary, in a statement.
