What Lastborn Shazi wanted to change on the KZN South Coast
HIBBERDENE — When Lastborn Shazi spoke to his younger brother Mbongeni about politics, the conversation often turned to rural development. For the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s Ugu district organiser, that included a problem his own community knew well. Families on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast had lived for years with an unreliable water supply, and his family said he wanted that to change. The 45-year-old father of three was shot dead at his home on Monday night.
Relatives gathered at the family homestead in Mfazazana on Tuesday, where the party’s Ugu leadership came to pay its respects. Mbongeni remembered his brother as one of the first people in their ward to organise openly for the MK Party. What he valued most, he told reporters, was his brother’s ability to deal with the problems people brought to him. “So we’ve lost a leader,” he said.
Colleagues were on a call with Shazi
Shazi was also a proportional representation candidate in Wednesday’s municipal elections. At about 9pm on Monday, he was on an online call with party colleagues discussing the first day of special voting when he stopped responding. Neighbours heard several gunshots at his home in Mathulini, near Hibberdene. He died at the scene.
KwaZulu-Natal police told reporters they had opened a murder case and would hand it to the Political Killings Task Team. Mbongeni said he believed the shooting could have been politically motivated, although the family did not know why his brother was killed. Police said the attackers had yet to be identified and the motive remained under investigation.
At the family homestead, relatives, friends and party members have begun holding prayer vigils. Shazi’s funeral is planned for Sunday.
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