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Nceba Dywili

Port Elizabeth — The African National Congress said it was shocked after a ward councillor candidate was shot and killed in Nelson Mandela Bay on Tuesday.

The Ward 4 candidate, Nceba Dywili, was killed in Zwide on Tuesday night, hours after he had participated in door-to-door campaigns in his constituency.

ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize said yesterday that they would be visiting the family to convey their condolences.

“We are shocked at his death.”

He said they had already lost several candidates in the build-up to the elections.

Their names would still be featured on the ballot papers, however, as the IEC processes had been closed. The ANC in the region would be issuing a more detailed statement later in the day, he said.

Police spokesperson Constable Mncedi Mbombo said the incident happened about 21:00 on Tuesday and no arrests had yet been made.
Dywili was shot several times in the upper body, while a volunteer he was dropping off was shot in the buttocks.

“Police are investigating a case of murder,” Mbombo said.

Tributes started pouring in yesterday morning for Dywili, who had been on the campaign trail with Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu a few hours before his death.

ANC councillor Marion Harning labelled his death a “waste. The pain, the cruelty”.

Meanwhile, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi says he is concerned about political killings that continue to mar the run-up to the local government elections.

The tally for politically motivated killings in KZN since the beginning of the year has escalated to 14, the latest being IFP supporters Siyanda Mnguni and Thokozani Majola, who were shot and killed in Estcourt at the weekend.

Speaking to The Witness while on a walkabout at Edendale Mall on Tuesday, Buthelezi described the situation as a “burning and worrying issue”.

“It shows that we are very far from free and fair elections,” he said.

Buthelezi bemoaned the destruction of public property, which he said had become a common feature of protests concerning service delivery or the ANC’s candidate nomination process.

“I am very worried about violent protests by ANC supporters. Protests have happened only in ANC-led municipalities. We are seeing the burning of schools and destruction of public property, which I was against even back when they said ‘let us make this country ungovernable’.” – AFP