Former ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa is reportedly recovering in hospital after being shot in what appears to be in ambush, in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday night, TimesLive reported on Friday. Magaqa and two colleagues were reportedly shot outside a shot in a village outside Umzimkhulu, in the violence-ridden Harry Gwala district.
Magaqa rose to national prominence as one of Julius Malema's key allies and lieutenants, after being elected to the ANCYL leadership in June 2011. Malema was president of the ANCYL at the time. He was suspended in 2012. He is currently a councillor and executive committee member at the Umzimkhulu municipality.
The news was posted on Facebook by Magaqa's relative and was confirmed to TimesLive by ANC KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson, Mdumiseni Ntuli.
Ntuli told TimesLive on Thursday night: "At the moment we haven't received details from people at the hospital. We have no idea if they are seriously wounded or have minor injuries. Comrades have gone to the hospital and we'll get a proper briefing tonight...Whoever shot them did it either while they were getting out of the vehicle to go into the shop, or as they were on their way out. We are waiting for more information,"
According to TimesLive, the ANC in the province recently held a meeting to discuss the spate of what seem to be politically-motivated killings in the area. ANC regional deputy secretary and speaker of the Umzimkhulu municipality Khaya Thobela was reportedly gunned down in April while arriving at his home. Former Harry Gwala councillor Khaya Mgcwaba was gunned down little less than a month later in the same municipality, and twelve days later, another Harry Gwala councillor, Mduduzi Tshivase, was gunned down outside his Umzimkhulu home.