Assassination attempt on teachers union deputy no coincidence – Saftu

The attempted assassination of KwaZulu-Natal-based National Teachers’ Union (Natu) deputy president Allen Thompson, who is recovering at the uMhlanga Hospital in Durban after surviving an attack by heavily armed men, was no coincidence, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) said on Saturday.

Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed the incident, saying Thompson had been pursued by assailants who were heavily armed with pistols and rifles. She said police were investigating a case of robbery and attempted murder.

“Saftu agrees that it cannot possibly be a coincidence that this well-planned and ruthlessly executed assassination attempt on a trade union leader, in which the target was his laptops, was unconnected with his fight against corruption,” Saftu said in a statement.

“This attack follows other instances of attacks or robberies of trade union officials in which only laptops were stolen, and a series of politically-connected murders in KZN. On the very same day that Thompson was ambushed, a prominent ANC activist and a municipal councillor from the Inkatha Freedom Party were gunned down in separate incidents.

“It proves that there must be no let-up in the fight against corruption. Now that the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] is finally starting to prosecute people who have been looting the state resources, others feel under threat and will stop at nothing, including murder, to destroy evidence and escape justice,” Saftu said.

Earlier on Saturday, (National Teachers Union) Natu said that after the shooting, the perpetrators stole documents pertaining to an “imminent forensic investigation regarding the KwaZulu-Natal education department”. The attack took place on Friday in uMhlanga while Thompson was en-route from Natu’s Empangeni head office to Durban.

“It happened very quickly in the middle of the road while cars were waiting for the green robot as they were off-ramping the N2 highway to join the M41 to the uMhlanga and La Lucia route,” Natu president Siphosethu Ngcobo said.

Thompson was shot through the driver’s front window and hit in the shoulder. Although wounded, Thompson made his way through traffic and stopped at the uMhlanga Hospital’s main entrance and ran inside.

“After being shot Mr Thompson never surrendered but continued to drive his car as assassins were still on his back, chasing him with an intention to find and kill him,” said Ngcobo.

The balaclava-clad assailants entered the hospital to search for Thompson and returned to his car when their search proved fruitless. They then proceeded to “loot” Thompson’s car, Ngcobo said.

“They walked away with his documents, bag with an undisclosed amount of money, two laptops, and bags that contained very critical information which is regarded as the master key to the imminent forensic investigations regarding the KZN department of education,” said Ngcobo.

Ngcobo told the African News Agency (ANA) that while neither he nor Thompson had received death threats, they had received “warnings”. “We have been getting warnings from politicians in KwaZulu-Natal that we must be careful because we are dealing with ‘sensitive’ matters when uncovering corruption within the education department.

“It is an open secret that we have been championing the call to place the KZN department of education under section 100, where the national department will take over the running of the provincial department. We will continue calling for investigations and we want the police to leave no stone unturned in this matter. We have liaised with the police and the union will definitely look into the issue of security,” said Ngcobo.

– African News Agency (ANA)