The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda has urged feuding families in Stulwane near Bergville to end violent conflict which has claimed scores of lives since 2014.
In October this year alone, four people were killed, causing members of the community to panic about prospects of having a peaceful and safe festive season.
Today, Kaunda convened an urgent meeting with the local leadership including Inkosi Menzi Hlongwane of the Amangwane Traditional Council and the warring families to end the conflict.
Members of the affected families believe that stock theft is at the centre of the long-running feud which resurfaced in 2014. Recently released crime statistics indicate that uThukela District is leading in cases of stock theft in the province.
Through government intervention, a peace agreement was signed last year where all parties involved in conflict committed themselves to bring peace and stability in the area.
Kaunda called for calm and assured the community that police visibility will be intensified in the area to ensure that perpetrators of the conflicts are arrested. “Through our law enforcement operations in the area, we are going to recover all illegal firearms which have been used in the killings. Those who will attack the police during these operations will face the full might of the law,” said Kaunda.
He also called upon the police to speed up investigation and effect arrests on all murder cases that have been opened.
The Speaker of Ukhahlamba Municipality Sthembiso Zulu said that the municipality was concerned about the conflict as it impacts negatively on the image of the area which formed part of the major tourist attractions in the province.
“Continued violent conflicts are discouraging investment in the entire Drakensberg area and this contributes to high rates of unemployment and poverty,” said Zulu.
Inkosi Hlongwane called for an end in revenge attacks as they were exacerbating killings. “Let us all rally behind government’s effort to bring peace in the area and accelerate service delivery,” said Hlongwane.
Addressing the families today, Kaunda said that while the law is taking its course on those implicated in the conflicts, a community prayer meeting will be convened where all the feuding families will recommit themselves to the peace agreement signed last year.
“As government, we want to ensure that the people of Stulwane have a safe and peaceful festive season,” said Kaunda.