Afrika Mayibuye says it is investigating why its Ekurhuleni councillor candidate allegedly opened fire on ANC Youth League members who were returning from a memorial service in Katlehong on Tuesday night.
The party’s member, Fani Sibeko, handed himself over to police after the shooting in Katlehong North that left two people dead and five others injured.
Sibeko, who serves as a Regional Coordination Team member of Afrika Mayibuye, had reportedly addressed the memorial service where tensions are said to have flared.
According to police and ANC sources, the victims were part of a group returning from a memorial service for slain ANC and ANC Youth League leader Jeanette Magugu, held at Mogobeng Primary School.
They were allegedly ambushed and shot at by Sibeko, who was said to be angry after the service.
While other reports indicate two dead and five injured, police have confirmed the case will now be handed over to the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) due to its political nature.
Afrika Mayibuye spokesperson Sydney Baloyi said the party is treating the matter with extreme seriousness.
“We are following the events of last night’s incident very closely. Will share something comprehensive as soon as the details of it all are made available to us,” Baloyi said.
The shooting has sent shockwaves through Ekurhuleni, coming on the same night as a second shooting incident in Vosloorus next to Ndlelanhle Primary School.
Gauteng government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga confirmed both incidents on Tuesday, with Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Provincial Police Commissioner General Tommy Mthombeni rushing to the Katlehong scene.
But it is the political link that has raised the most alarm.
Insiders in both parties say tensions have been boiling for weeks ahead of the local government elections.
Katlehong Ward 51 is a hotly contested ward, with Afrika Mayibuye aggressively campaigning to unseat the ANC in its traditional strongholds.
“There has been bad blood on the ground. Intimidation, tearing down of posters, threats at community meetings. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened,” a local ANC Youth League member told this publication.
Another insider in Afrika Mayibuye admitted the party was worried about the fallout.
“If it is true that our candidate did this, it destroys everything we have been building. We are supposed to be an alternative, not this,” the insider said.
The ANC in Gauteng has condemned the killing and extended condolences to the families of the deceased.
The DA’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, said the shooting is part of a growing trail of blood in Ekurhuleni and demanded that SAPS leadership account to Parliament.
Sibeko remains in police custody. It is not yet clear whether he has been formally charged as investigations continue.
The PKTT is expected to take over the case this morning, as pressure mounts for political parties to rein in their supporters before the elections turn even bloodier.
