Inkosi Hlanganani Biyela (54) of KwaMpukane Royal house at Ndlangubo area, in Eshowe
Another inkosi was gunned down in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.
This is the second inkosi killed in the province within one week.
Inkosi Hlanganani Biyela (54) of KwaMpukane Royal house at Ndlangubo area, in Eshowe, was the chairperson of the King Cetshwayo Local House of Traditional Leaders. He was gunned down on Saturday night by unknown people when he arrived at his home. His death follows the death of an interim chief, Mzomuhle Zondi (24) from Mpotholo, in Nkandla, who was also gunned down by unknown gunmen at his home on Wednesday. Zondi sustained gunshot wounds to the head, abdomen and leg.
Yesterday KZN police spokesperson, Colonel Thambeka Mbele said Biyela had parked his car outside his house and walked to a rondavel opposite it.
“It is alleged that several gunshots were heard and when family members came out of the house, they found him on the ground with his firearm cocked open and magazine emptied,” said Mbele.
She said the Biyela homestead’s fence was found cut by the back entrance. There were blood stains through out the premises but it was not yet clear whether Biyela had shot any of the people who ambushed him.
Chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal House of Traditional Leaders, Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza, has called for the police to work tirelessly to ensure perpetrators are arrested.
“This is enough, we can’t tolerate such things where amakhosi are murdered like chickens,” said Chiliza. He also appealed to the community and those with information to come forward.
“It’s sad that after 27 years of democracy amakhosi are still brutally killed,” said Chiliza.
KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Sipho Hlomuka, called upon the law enforcement agencies to double their efforts in apprehending those responsible for the recent spate of killings of amakhosi in the province.
“As the provincial government, we are concerned about the killings that are threatening to destabilise the institution of traditional leadership in our province. In less than a week we have lost two amakhosi in the King Cetshwayo District.
“We are calling upon community members to be part of efforts to root out rogue elements that are hell-bent on plunging the institution of traditional leadership into chaos,” said Hlomuka.
More than 30 traditional leaders, including izinduna, have been killed in KwaZulu-Natal since 2019.
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