KZN is SA’s new gangster’s paradise

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is quickly becoming a gangster’s paradise as the province falls is in the spotlight again following two recent violent crimes.

Two murders shook the KZN community, including the fatal shooting of a KZN police commander and the murder of the Richards Bay Minerals manager.

Ndwedwe police station acting station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Jabulani Ndawonde was driving home when he was gunned down near the Bhamshela taxi rank at about 6.30pm on Monday.

Last week, a 40-year-old off-duty policeman was fatally shot by unknown people who fled the scene on foot.

The general manager for operational services at Richards Bay Minerals, owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, was murdered on his way to work when gunmen opened fired on Monday.

Dr Johan Burger, a consultant at the justice and violence prevention programme for the Institution for Security Studies (ISS), said it would seem that KZN has become the new centre for violent crimes.

“It looks like a new wave of crime is terrorising KZN,” Burger said.

Criminologist Christiaan Bezuidenhout said KZN was one of the country’s crime meccas with one of the highest murder rates.

Other provinces that record high crime rates include the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.

“It is not far-fetched to assume there are organised crime groups in the KZN area,” Bezuidenhout said.

Bezuidenhout said it was important to remember KZN has a harbour that draws a lot of organised crime activity.

He said these groups are geographically mobile and work where there is a demand.

“It is a lot about opportunity, money and the task at hand,” Bezuidenhout added.

“In KZN, the Drakensberg borders Lesotho and a lot of livestock theft is taking place. The side at the Free state border has been stolen bare,” Bezuidenhout said.

Bezuidenhout noted there have also been a handful of assassinations in the KZN in the past few years.

marizkac@citizen.co.za