S. African Town on Edge After Massacre
Police fired tear gas Sunday to prevent street clashes, and officials from the nation’s ruling party came under gunfire after the killing of an opposition leader and the massacre of 11 people.
Sifiso Nkabinde, 38, a controversial leader of the small United Democratic Movement party, was fatally shot Saturday as he sat in his car in Richmond, a town 300 miles southeast of Johannesburg.
Later Saturday, gunmen burst into a house in the same town and killed 11 people who reportedly backed the ruling African National Congress. Seven others were seriously injured.
The massacre was apparently in revenge for Nkabinde’s killing, said Richmond Mayor Andrew Ragavaloo, an ANC member. Nkabinde had a long history of disputes with the ANC.
The violence threatened to spiral out of control in the volatile eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal. A police official said more troops and police would be sent to the area, the South African Press Assn. reported. Police fired tear gas Sunday to disperse more than 100 people from the ANC and the UDM as they were about to clash.
Later, a delegation of ANC officials came under gunfire, but none were injured, the news agency said.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa called for calm, and President Nelson Mandela canceled a two-day trip to Uganda because of the violence, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
