The mayor of Umzinyathi District Municipality and other mayors of municipalities under the district have concurred with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that the district is marred by the highest rate of young people joining the life of crime. 

Mkhwanazi had recently identified the district, made up of Umvoti in Greytown, Msinga, and Nquthu, as the hub of young people who, because of unemployment and poverty, are recruited to become hitmen.

During the stakeholders’ engagement session in Durban last week, Mkhwanazi described Umzinyathi as a forgotten district in the province.

“It (Umzinyathi) is the source of criminality in the country where the hitmen are recruitable,” said Mkhwanazi.  

He said most young people in Umzinyathi grew up without father figures, as their biological fathers were engaged in polygamous marriages, which made them neglect their children. 

“If you ask any boy from that part of the province, they will say, ‘My father is so-and-so, but I don’t know him.’

“My father gave birth to me and two siblings, and he also has another wife and another family, or he went to Johannesburg and never came back. When we grew up, we had to fend for ourselves, we had to figure out how to navigate this life,” said Mkhwanazi. 

He said when biological fathers die, the fathers’ brothers would inherit their mothers, who they impregnated, and “forget about the children of their brothers”.

“These boys grow up not knowing what to do, and they get recruited and they end up committing crimes. That is what we see most of the time when we analyse crime,” said Mkhwanazi.

He said law enforcement authorities often address the outcomes of crime without understanding the underlying causes. 

Umzinyathi Mayor Thembisile Mchunu attributed the high rate of crime in the district to the yearly unemployment increase, as young people often complete matriculation only to become idle.

Mchunu said other children drop out of school before reaching matric because of the distance between their homes and schools.

Mchunu said that, as a result of being rural, Umzinyathi has many unemployed people. 

“The area has a high crime rate, such as livestock theft, but we are trying to work with the police to combat crime,” said Mchunu.

She said the district works closely with Umzinyathi Police Commissioner Major-General Francis Slambert. 

Slambert also survived an attack from hitmen.

Mchunu painted a bleak future for the district’s young men, saying most of them ended up becoming a danger to their communities.

She said the Social Development Department was trying to assist in changing the situation. “We also visit schools to assist children who are exposed to the life of crime,” she said. 

Census SA’s 2016 indicated that the district’s population was about 555,000, and the district’s 2023/24 annual report indicated an unemployment rate of 24.9%, with 40% of residents discouraged from seeking employment.

Felenkosi Sikhakhane, the mayor of Umsinga, which is notorious for producing hitmen, said unemployment and crime were a reality. 

“Umsinga does not have a town where people could be employed, and we depend on big cities such as Durban, Pietermaritzburg, and Johannesburg,” said Sikhakhane.

However, he said the number of Umsinga’s young men becoming hitmen has decreased compared to previous years. 

“We visit all 21 wards, begging young men not to become hitmen, and it should not be easy for them to kill people,” he said.

He said local young men who are living in big cities, especially Johannesburg, would come to the villages to commit crime and run back to the cities, to hide, or they would commit crime in the cities and come to the villages to hide. 

“We are experiencing a lot of corpses being brought to the villages from Johannesburg for burials next to their families,” he said. 

Sikhakhane said his municipality has succeeded in ending faction fights, which were prevalent in the early 90s. 

However, Inquthu Mayor Lindokuhle Shabalala said it was disappointing that two young people from Qhudeni village, which falls under the municipality, were implicated in the murder of IFP MP Petros Sithole, who was killed in an execution-style in Katlehong, Germiston, on May 31.

Sithole was killed instantly, while other IFP members, Alco Ngobese and Sambulo Nxumalo, who were with him, survived with bullet wounds. 

“After we lost an MP, Sithole, arrests were made, and it was established that the suspects were from Nquthu,” said Shabalala.

He said to boost the local economy, the municipality held an investment breakfast at the local Ncome Museum in February with several businesses. 

“We told them about our town’s business plan and that we have sites that were ready for business development, as we wanted them to increase job opportunities,” said Shabalala. 

He said the municipality would normally invite tertiary institutions’ representatives to assist matric pupils to apply for higher education studies. 

“We also assist them in applying for study funding, as we are no longer allowed to use municipality funds to pay for young people’s studies,” said Shabalala.  

bongani.hans@inl.co.za

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