Hefty sentence for councillor’s murderer
IFP praise conviction and sentence of the murderer of wheel-chair bound councillor
The Pietermaritzburg High Court sentenced Ayanda Siyanda Mshengu to an effective 25 years’ imprisonment for murder and attempted murder. Mshengu stood accused of killing Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) ward councillor Mthembeni Majola in Estcourt, as well as the murder of another man, Sithembiso Promise Mahlinza, and an attempted murder in August 2019 in the Estcourt area.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) commented that, “The party was divided into two opposing factions and there was animosity between the factions. Majola was the leader of one of the factions, and members of the opposing faction wanted him dead.
“There had been previous attempts on his life, which had rendered him a paraplegic. On the day of the incident, Majola was driving on the R103 in the Estcourt area, accompanied by his minor nephew and Sithembiso Promise Mahlinza. At some point in their journey, a car pulled up alongside their vehicle and the occupants, Mshengu being one of them, fired at Majola’s vehicle, killing him and Mahlinza. They died of multiple gunshot wounds and Mshengu was arrested after police traced him in Soweto.”
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The IFP in the uThukela District has welcomed the sentence by the high court.
IFP regional spokesperson Bongani Ngubane said, “We welcome the sentence given to this murderer. The law has taken its course and everything was done in order for the killer to be sentenced. We are happy that the murderer was found and sentenced, because we always have the problem of perpetrators committing crimes and getting away with it. As the IFP, we welcome the sentence.”
Ramkisson-Kara said the NPA also welcomes the sentence and ‘we commend the successful partnership between the prosecution and the Political Task Team. Political killings are rife in KZN and we hope that sentences of this nature will deter like-minded individuals. The NPA and its partners are determined to bring perpetrators to book for their actions’.
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