A hitman became obsessed with the plot to kill the chief and revealed who had sent him and hanged himself to death, fearing that the one who sent him would hurt him as he had cleared all the truth.
It is suspected that there is a rivalry for the position of a man, under the Lushaba dynasty, in OShabeni, in Port Shepstone, following the suicide of a “hitman”, who is said to have been sent by someone to track down Mr Thulasizwe Philani “Dr Shkhuni” Khumalo, a Chief who was appointed months few few years ago as chief of the village of Nkulu.It is said that the hitman was caught last morning in Mr Khumalo’s premises, which when questioned, cleared the whole truth that he was sent by a local who was on the list of candidates for office.
It is said that the competition for the position started to heat up late last year. Before the election Mr Khumalo was said to have been attacked twice. It is said that he was first attacked by men with guns in his house but he survived, and the second time they set fire to one of his houses claiming that he was inside. ILANGA spoke to Mr Khumalo, who revealed that the recent incident was very embarrassing because the ‘hitman’ was a local boy he knew him very well. He says that when he found out the truth, he told the person who bought it. “This incident happened while I was away on duty, I received a call from my mother that someone has been caught in the yard, who says that he was sent to kill me, I was shocked that he was a local boy whom I even knew his family, then he apologized, saying that he has been following me for three weeks. He revealed that Sunday was the day I was supposed to be killed as he was going to check which house I was sleeping in, then hitman would be sent to shoot me,” he said.
He said the “hitman” kept apologizing, asking to be arrested because he feared for his life that he was no longer safe as the people who sent him had revealed. iLANGA has heard a recorded speech in which the ‘hitman’ asked Mr Khumalo to arrest him rather than be killed.
“I called the police to investigate, which is when hitman asked to be arrested. “I refused to open a case against this boy because I know his family, and that he was not carrying a weapon and I am not a person who likes to talk,” said Mr Khumalo.
He says the police took the ‘hitman’ to register a statement, but then they let him go. It is said that the he identified one of the candidates and called him by name (his name withheld), saying that he was the one who sent him. it turns out that after being released by the police, he returned to his home and told his father what had happened. Mr Khumalo says that he did not want to run for this position but because there are members of the community who asked him to run, saying that they trust him that there is a difference he can make. “I was afraid to embarrass them so I intervened and when it came to the elections, I came and won”.
