KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has issued a stark warning, describing the Umzinyathi District as a factory for professional killers whose operations extend across South Africa.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Mkhwanazi stated the area has become a “university of crime” where young men are recruited and trained as hired assassins for political killings, taxi wars, and organized crime. He called it a national problem, not just a local one.
The commissioner’s warning highlights the province’s notoriety as the country’s assassination capital. Investigations frequently find that gunmen arrested for contract killings originated from the Umzinyathi district.
Security analysts agree, noting that hitmen can be hired there easily, with prices ranging from R5,000 for intimidation to hundreds of thousands for high-profile targets.
While community leaders in Umzinyathi resent the stigma, some admit the crisis is real. A local pastor lamented that children are being seduced by “blood money” and that gunfire has become normalized.
Civil society groups are calling for urgent intervention, including more police, youth employment programs, and crackdowns on recruiters. Commissioner Mkhwanazi emphasized that police cannot solve the problem alone, stating that communities must reject the glorification of violence to stop this “societal cancer.”