Councillor’s house set alight in Zonk’zizwe

ALBERTON – The house of an ANC ward councillor was set on fire on June 25. Clr Teboho Letsoha, councillor for ward 61, was the victim of the attack.

“Although the situation has calmed down today, it remains quite tense with a heavy police presence,” Zweli Dlamini, the mayoral spokesman, explained in a press statement.

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“While the information with regard to what happened is still trickling in, at the forefront I wish to make it clear that no amount of excuses can justify the crime committed against the councillor,” Gungubele added.

“I am told that this incident had something to do with a power outage. The unfortunate part is that the councillor became a victim of the attack when he was also affected by the outage.

”The time has come for our people to understand the role of the councillors, who are servants of the people, and who are there to bring communities closer to government.” The mayor also said that residents need to engage in the proper processes, instead of threatening the lives of councillors.

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“What makes this incident even more unfortunate, is the fact that it happened on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Charter; this is certainly not the freedom our forebears paid the ultimate price for. We must do better as a country,” he added.

According to the EMM’s press statement, this incident is the second of its kind in two months.The other house was set alight in Etwatwa.

However, the release neglects to mention the home of Ntombi Nkosi, an Eden Park ward 53 committee member, which was also set alight.

Gungubele said it is now the duty of the community to work closely with the police to bring the perpetrators to book.

“This is an act of crime and someone must pay for this. No one is above the law in this country,” he stated.

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