Durban - A relative of eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, who he said was actively fighting cross-border crime in the area, has been killed in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Kaunda revealed recently that his cousin Mackson Chirwa was assassinated more than a week ago in the area of Sikhemelele in Manguzi. He was to be laid to rest this past weekend.
He said Chirwa was a prominent businessman in that area.
“I had been attending the boxing awards (that were hosted in the city) when I received a call that my cousin in Manguzi has been shot,” said Kaunda, revealing that his cousin was among those in the community that have been standing up against crime, especially the car thefts and hijackings that have been happening in that area.
UMhlabuyalingana and surrounding areas have become a hotbed for targeted assassinations directed at those fighting cross-border crime, especially the hijacking or theft of vehicles which are stolen and then taken across the border to neighbouring countries.
Juda Mthethwa, the chairperson of UMhlabuyalingana Society Against Crime (USAC), was killed earlier this year.
In March, another activist, Sandile Tembe, a nephew of the Tembe clan chief, Inkosi Mabhudu Tembe, who was also a prominent member of the Manguzi Policing Forum and actively fought against cross-border crime, was gunned down.