Pretoria - The burning of a councillor’s house in uMdoni has been condemned by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Nomusa Dube-Ncube.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dube-Ncube said the provincial Cogta is gravely concerned about growing instances of attacks on municipal councillors.
According to reports, a mob allegedly unhappy about water issues vented their frustration by torching the councillor’s house.
“The department is concerned that councillors are becoming soft targets for complex service delivery issues because of their close proximity to the communities whom they serve. An attack on councillors is an attack on democracy itself because councillors are elected representatives of the people,” said the MEC.
She noted that the province had recently emerged from a dark history of political intolerance.
“We are determined to do all in our power to prevent the province from regressing to an era of politically motivated killings and no-go areas,” Dube-Ncube said.
Cogta is monitoring developments in areas where incidents of service related violence have occurred.
“We pledge our full co-operation with the South African Police Service in apprehending all perpetrators and we urge the police to expedite all investigations into such incidents,” said Dube-Ncube. - SAnews.gov.za
