The Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) traditional leader accused of killing two people, including a Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor, has been arrested for another murder. Image: Pixabay.
(The Post News)– Following an investigation by the province’s specialist Political Killings Task Team, traditional leader Inkosi Simphiwe Zuma is now facing a third murder accusation in KwaZulu-Natal. This high-profile murder case that has taken a dramatic turn in political killings cases.
The most recent event occurs while a labyrinth of suspected bribery, witness intimidation, and intercommunal strife is revealed by Zuma’s protracted bail appeal for the murder of a Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor.
In relation to a murder that occurred in Howick in November 2022, Zuma, the traditional head of the Nxamalala tribal authority in Impendle, was taken into custody over the weekend. The murder of his traditional prime minister, Qalokunye Zuma, in 2023 and the December 2023 murder of DA uMngeni local municipality councillor Nhlalayenza Ndlovu are the two murder accusations he already faces.
An important step in the political killings inquiry is the new charge. The gun that killed Qalokunye Zuma is now connected to the 2022 murder, according to case-related sources, raising the possibility of a violent trend. The Political Killings Task Team, which has been criticized for moving slowly, is currently actively reviewing 121 dockets in light of this discovery.
The explosive contents of Zuma’s case have been clarified by the continuing bail hearing at the Howick Magistrate’s Court. Senior prosecutor Lawrence Gcaba read an affidavit from investigator Sgt. Delani Chamane into the record, naming Zuma as the alleged mastermind behind the murder of Ndlovu. According to the affidavit, Zuma allegedly gave R75,000 to Zwelithini Buthelezi, a hitman who has subsequently become a state witness.
According to the prosecution, a community conflict over unauthorized power hookups served as the driving force behind Ndlovu’s murder. According to the evidence put up, Ndlovu objected to Zuma’s claimed directive to citizens to donate money for a transformer, citing legal issues. Ndlovu was killed weeks later, and Zuma and his allies are accused of blaming him when the official authorities cut the transformer.
The court also heard startling new claims that implicated two of Zuma’s family members in the crime. Thobani Zuma, a member of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, is accused of participating in a scheme to bribe a magistrate with R200,000 to gain Inkosi Zuma’s release, while Khulubuse Zuma is accused of attempting to poison a witness in a prior case.
Francois Rodgers, the provincial head of the DA, has demanded that Zuma be refused bail, claiming that the party has had its detectives following the matter for a long time. Rodgers stated, “We have known this information for a while,” and he was annoyed that the political killings task team had taken so long to come to the same conclusions.
Zuma has entered a not guilty plea to the accusations of killing Qalokunye Zuma and is currently free on R25,000 bail. In court, his attorney argued for Zuma’s release, pointing out that he is married, has kids, and has long-term health issues.
Meanwhile, Zuma will return to the Howick Magistrates Court for his bail hearing on the Ndlovu case.
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