Tributes have poured in for Khaya Thobela‚ the slain Umzimkhulu Municipality council speaker and ANC deputy secretary in the Harry Gwala region who was shot on Thursday and died on Sunday morning.
The ANC‚ its youth league in KwaZulu-Natal‚ and the department of co-operative governance led tributes.
Thobela’s death follows a string of other killings of KwaZulu-Natal officials.
ANC spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli said in a statement that Thobela was shot several times when arriving at his home in Ward 13‚ Emfundweni‚ on Thursday evening.
“He was rushed to hospital in critical condition but succumbed to death in the early hours today . The ANC has lost a great leader who has been committed to serving the people. Cde Thobela was a judicious leader who served with great diligence and commitment in the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality as the speaker‚” said Ntuli.
Ntuli said the murder of Thobela was a serious setback for the movement‚ as he always respected the ANC and was willing to be deployed anywhere to serve the people.
“Cde Thobela grew up within the ranks of our movement in his area of birth‚ Umzimkhulu‚ in southern KwaZulu-Natal. He joined the ANCYL at a very young age and later the ANC in the Sisulu Branch. As a teacher‚ Thobela was an active member and a leader of South African Democratic Teachers Union‚” he said.
Thobela resigned as a teacher while he was already a deputy principal in Ezinqolweni to take a fulltime position as a councillor in 2011‚ when the ANC deployed him as the speaker in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality.
The ANC leadership that included provincial chair Sihle Zikalala‚ secretary Super Zuma‚ his deputy Mluleki Ndobe‚ a former regional chair in Harry Gwala‚ Moses Mabhida regional chair Mthandeni Dlungwane and his secretary Mzi Zuma visited Thobela’s family on Sunday afternoon.
MEC for Co-operative Governance Nomusa Dube-Ncube has expressed shock at the brazen attack on Thobela and reiterated her earlier statement that the ongoing spate of violence directed at elected public representatives‚ traditional leaders and municipal officials in KZN’s local government institutions must stop.
“The passing away of councillor Thobela is a huge blow to our province’s democratic system of local government. It is unacceptable that yet another councillor in the province has been murdered. We are outraged‚ angry and shocked at the killing of the Speaker of Umzimkhulu council. Violence against councillors is deeply concerning. We have worked very hard to make KZN a peaceful province and we cannot allow this achievement to be reversed by criminal elements‚” said Dube-Ncube.
Provincial ANCYL secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo said the loss of Thobela would not only affect his family and the ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal‚ but the broader congress movement.
“The Youth League wants to put on record that we are against the killing of comrades and we call upon the law enforcement agencies to act with speed so that the perpetrators get arrested‚” he said
Tributes pour in for slain Umzimkhulu speaker
The ANC‚ its youth league in KwaZulu-Natal‚ and the department of co-operative governance led tributes.
Thobela’s death follows a string of other killings of KwaZulu-Natal officials.
ANC spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli said in a statement that Thobela was shot several times when arriving at his home in Ward 13‚ Emfundweni‚ on Thursday evening.
“He was rushed to hospital in critical condition but succumbed to death in the early hours today . The ANC has lost a great leader who has been committed to serving the people. Cde Thobela was a judicious leader who served with great diligence and commitment in the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality as the speaker‚” said Ntuli.
Ntuli said the murder of Thobela was a serious setback for the movement‚ as he always respected the ANC and was willing to be deployed anywhere to serve the people.
“Cde Thobela grew up within the ranks of our movement in his area of birth‚ Umzimkhulu‚ in southern KwaZulu-Natal. He joined the ANCYL at a very young age and later the ANC in the Sisulu Branch. As a teacher‚ Thobela was an active member and a leader of South African Democratic Teachers Union‚” he said.
Thobela resigned as a teacher while he was already a deputy principal in Ezinqolweni to take a fulltime position as a councillor in 2011‚ when the ANC deployed him as the speaker in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality.
The ANC leadership that included provincial chair Sihle Zikalala‚ secretary Super Zuma‚ his deputy Mluleki Ndobe‚ a former regional chair in Harry Gwala‚ Moses Mabhida regional chair Mthandeni Dlungwane and his secretary Mzi Zuma visited Thobela’s family on Sunday afternoon.
MEC for Co-operative Governance Nomusa Dube-Ncube has expressed shock at the brazen attack on Thobela and reiterated her earlier statement that the ongoing spate of violence directed at elected public representatives‚ traditional leaders and municipal officials in KZN’s local government institutions must stop.
“The passing away of councillor Thobela is a huge blow to our province’s democratic system of local government. It is unacceptable that yet another councillor in the province has been murdered. We are outraged‚ angry and shocked at the killing of the Speaker of Umzimkhulu council. Violence against councillors is deeply concerning. We have worked very hard to make KZN a peaceful province and we cannot allow this achievement to be reversed by criminal elements‚” said Dube-Ncube.
Provincial ANCYL secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo said the loss of Thobela would not only affect his family and the ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal‚ but the broader congress movement.
“The Youth League wants to put on record that we are against the killing of comrades and we call upon the law enforcement agencies to act with speed so that the perpetrators get arrested‚” he said
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