Canaan Mdletshe
Canaan Mdletshe
Former IFP councillor, Mkhishwa Khawula and his cousin Meshack Fananobani Ndovela were yesterday jailed for life for murdering ANC councillor Zakhele Cele and his three bodyguards in Shobashobane, on the KwaZulu- Natal south coast last year.
Khawula, 45, and Ndovela, 35, were convicted of murdering Cele, bodyguards Nkosingiphile Mavundla, Moses Gambushe and Mandla Cele, days after Cele had won elections in the then troubled Thembelihle area. He ousted Khawula as a councillor in the Ezinqoleni municipality.
Handing down sentence, Ramsgate Judge Piet Koen said he hoped the sentence would serve as a lesson to members of society to be more politically tolerant of each other.
Ndovela was convicted for murdering Mandla Cele who died in hospital three days later .
He was also found to have been in possession of murder weapons, an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol, which earned him 15 more years.
Cele had been provided with bodyguards after receiving death threats before the elections.
The deceased were asleep when they were attacked by Khawula and Ndovela.
Samson Nyawose, regional IFP chairman in the area, said his party welcomed the court's decision.
He said it fitted the crime, adding he hoped the same would be done to members of other political parties if found guilty of the same crime.
"We have always stood by the fact that law and justice should take its course, and we will always respect the decisions taken by the courts," said Nyawose
Inkatha men get life for killing ANC man, guards
Canaan Mdletshe
Canaan Mdletshe
Former IFP councillor, Mkhishwa Khawula and his cousin Meshack Fananobani Ndovela were yesterday jailed for life for murdering ANC councillor Zakhele Cele and his three bodyguards in Shobashobane, on the KwaZulu- Natal south coast last year.
Khawula, 45, and Ndovela, 35, were convicted of murdering Cele, bodyguards Nkosingiphile Mavundla, Moses Gambushe and Mandla Cele, days after Cele had won elections in the then troubled Thembelihle area. He ousted Khawula as a councillor in the Ezinqoleni municipality.
Handing down sentence, Ramsgate Judge Piet Koen said he hoped the sentence would serve as a lesson to members of society to be more politically tolerant of each other.
Ndovela was convicted for murdering Mandla Cele who died in hospital three days later .
He was also found to have been in possession of murder weapons, an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol, which earned him 15 more years.
Cele had been provided with bodyguards after receiving death threats before the elections.
The deceased were asleep when they were attacked by Khawula and Ndovela.
Samson Nyawose, regional IFP chairman in the area, said his party welcomed the court's decision.
He said it fitted the crime, adding he hoped the same would be done to members of other political parties if found guilty of the same crime.
"We have always stood by the fact that law and justice should take its course, and we will always respect the decisions taken by the courts," said Nyawose