Residents protesting over thirst for water shot outside KZN ward councillor’s house

An attempted murder case has been opened after at least two people were shot and injured outside a ward councillor’s home in KwaZulu-Natal. The shots were allegedly fired by the ward councillor’s bodyguards.

The protest took place on the evening of 23 July when residents of Sakhamkhanya in Kwadukuza (formerly Stanger) went to the ward councillor’s home to express their dissatisfaction with the lack of service delivery in the area, said SAPS communications officer Alex Thomson.

“It is alleged that the group of community members went to their local ward councillor’s house late at night. When they arrived at the house, shots were fired and two people were injured during the shooting,” said Thomson.

He said the incident was “under investigation”.

According to one of the people who were shot, the protest happened because the community had been without water for two weeks. The injured resident, who asked to remain anonymous as he feared for his life, said the protestors who were gathered outside the councillor’s home saw the lights turned off. Soon thereafter, shots were fired, and he felt a bullet hit his shoulder. He believes he was shot by one of Shandu’s bodyguards.

Councillor Scelo Shandu (ANC) said the protestors arrived outside his house at about 8.30pm, and the protest had been ongoing since about 5am that day. Shandu said during the day an official from Ilembe District Municipality, and a KwaDukuza Local Municipality speaker had told the protestors the water issues would be fixed that afternoon.

Shandu said the protestors marched to his home after the Ilembe District Municipality officials failed to deliver on their promise. He said they started throwing stones and bottles at his house, and trying to break down the gate.

He said at this point he went to the other side of his house to make sure his children were safe. Then he heard gunshots. He said he did not know what happened because he was busy trying to ensure his family were safe.

According to the injured resident GroundUp spoke to, the councillor has yet to speak to him, or apologise for the shooting, but he has since been given a job at a construction site.

He said he believed this was a ploy to convince him to drop charges against Shandu, but he said he has no plans to do so.

He said he accepted the job as he needs the income, but he struggles with the work due to his injury. The whole situation has made him “angry”, he said.

Shandu said the jobs were handed out by randomly picking names out of a box. He said he does not know if one of the people injured from the protest was chosen for the job because he does not even know who was injured.

Another resident, who GroundUp was not able to speak to directly, was allegedly shot in the ankle at the protest. GroundUp has seen photos of both of the injuries.

“The issue of the use of the firearm is the subject of investigation by the SAPS. Only their investigation can determine the firearm that fired the shot and the owner of the firearm,” said Kwadukuza municipal spokesperson Sifiso Zulu.

Written by Joseph Bracken, First published by GroundUp .