31 July 2000
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is outraged at what appears to be a deliberate assassination of ANC MP, Comrade Bheki Mkhize. According to information we have, Comrade Mkhize was shot during a supposed police investigation and search at his Nongom a home yesterday morning.
The SACP views the blatant and clod-blooded killing of Comrade Mkhize (a democratically elected public representative) as a deliberate provocation of our people, government and democracy. This killing is a strong indication that within the SA Police Servic es there continues to exist elements committed to destabilise our democracy and particularly the KwaZulu Natal province.
We knew Comrade Mkhize not only as a political leader, but also as a person committed to his rural home and family. We share the pain of the Mkhize family. Comrade Mkhize was also a humble, real leader of the working class who dedicated his life to the cau se of the working class. Before his term in parliament, he was the president of NEHAWU. Therefore, his death is a loss to the entire country and the poor and working people of our country.
We urge the Independent Complaints Directorate and the SAPS to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of Comrade Mkhize+IBk-s death. Further, we call on the Minister of Safety and Security to take direct charge of this investigation by the SAPS. We call on the Minister to use this investigation to get to the bottom of the counter-revolutionary elements in the SAPS and flush them out of the SAPS once and for all.
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339-3621/2
Fax - 011 339-4244
Cell - 083 651 0271
Website - www.sacp.org.za
Email - sacp1wn.apc.org