“My ears are intact,” says councillor

A Mpumalanga capital city councillor has denied media reports that both his ears were cut off when angry community members attacked him the nomination of a ward councillor in Kanyamazane outside Mbombela.
The councillor, Bheki Zulu, who is also the Mbombela municipality’s Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development and Tourism, was admitted to Medi Clinic on Sunday after a brutal attack that allegedly involved members of an ANC faction that lost a contest during the nominations of a councillor for Ward 21.
“It is not true, both my ears are still intact,” Zulu told African Eye News Service while recovering from an injury in hospital.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala confirmed the incident at Kanyamazane stadium.
He said while several cases have been opened against warring factions, they have not received any complaint from Zulu.
“On Sunday there was a meeting where a fight erupted and two suspects were arrested. Four cases of common assault were registered. There was no case reported to the police wherein Mr Zulu was allegedly assaulted,” said Mohlala.
Mohlala said that the police had not been notified about the gathering and he urged leaders of political organisations to notify the police about such events.
“There was no application made in this regard. We will encourage all the organisers of events to (submit an) application in advance for events categorisation in terms of the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act,” he said.
Zulu confirmed that he had not opened a case yet, but would do so as soon as he has recovered fully.
An eyewitness who spoke to AENS on condition of anonymity said the fight started when Zulu tried to reason with a group that was preventing his younger brother from getting into the venue where the meeting was held.
“They poured alcohol directly on him and when he tried to reason with them, they started assaulting him,” said the witness.
Sunday’s incident is the second where an ANC leader was attacked at Kanyamazane as a result of ANC internal fights on the election of councillors.
Last month, community members assaulted member of the Mpumalanga provincial legislature and ANC regional executive committee member, Petrus Ngomana, after he allegedly refused to declare a candidate that was favoured by the community a winner following a voting session.
Angry community members attacked him until the police intervened.
ANC regional secretary, Phazamisa Mathe, was not available for comment. His phone rang unanswered.

Written by: Ziwaphi on 23rd Mar 2016.on 1st Apr 2016.