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The death of former Ndwedwe mayor Maxwell Hadebe who was shot at his business premises in Ndwedwe on Thursday night further justifies our call for KZN MEC of Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda to work around the clock in implementing a tangible comprehensive plan aimed at eradicating crime and illegal guns from all corners of our communities this province. We dream of a crime free province and it all depends in his willingness to find working plans to thoroughly deal with crime.

First and foremost, we condemn in the strongest terms this barbaric and senseless killing of the former mayor. The IFP is gravely concerned with the failure of our justice system to be harsh against political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.

The IFP is tired of a compromised system that continues to put lives of many people at risk because it only seeks to serve a few elites with funds to jeopardise the institution. Many people have lost their lives due to incompetent officials who fail to take heed of the warnings to avoid such catastrophic results. We call on the government to take decisive action to address these senseless killings.

KwaZulu-Natal is also now like a giant crime scene. In some areas there is even a curfew. A person cannot freely move around at night. So, is this really freedom? Freedom from apartheid to the clutches of crime? The main reason why political crime is so high in South Africa is because of weak policing and justice system. It seems our laws were written by criminals, for criminals.

The IFP further urges the political killings’ task team to be thorough in its investigation into who killed the former Ndwedwe Mayor. The team must ensure that it has sufficient evidence before arresting people to avoid raising hope for the family of the deceased then at the end the accused are released due to insufficient evidence.

The IFP further call for public to help tackle ‘national emergency’ of SA’s gun crime.

The IFP send its heartfelt condolences to the Hadebe family and friends.

Issued by The IFP