Qumbu Shooting Claims Second Victim In ANC Activist, As Killers Remain At Large

Ngawonke Bulala, shot in a brazen attack along with his comrade and business owner friend Wonele Gontshi in June in Qumbu, succumbed to his injuries a few days ago.

His untimely death is another blight on the South African democracy as the politically motivated bloodbath around the June election registration weekend is considered one of the worst in South African history.

Gontshi, who died at the scene three months ago, was ward 14 Elections Branch Coordinator and Bulala was the Elections Manager of the Mhlontlo Local Elections Team.

Thirty-five-year-old Bulala, an ANC Eastern Cape provincial leader and a ward councillor candidate for the November 4 election, fought bravely for his life after they were ambushed at the Sejoseng Business Centre.

At the time, the South African Police Services said: “It is alleged that the three victims had arrived at the pharmacy to purchase masks. As they attempted to enter, gunfire erupted. The victims took cover inside, and the shooting continued for some time before the suspect(s) fled. Nothing was taken from the victims or the pharmacy. Crime scene investigators recovered multiple rifle cartridges, projectiles, and sealed bullets.”

The third victim, who has not been named, did not sustain any injuries during the attack.

While the South African Police Services are still searching for the culprits who blatantly sprayed the men with high-calibre bullets as they entered a pharmacy, the safety of councillor candidates is firmly brought into the spotlight.

Responding to a request for an update by The Coastal, Eastern Cape provincial spokesperson, Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana, said no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting of the duo.

“The charge relating to the attack on Mr Ngawonke Bulala will be changed from attempted murder to murder.

“This change will only be effected after the autopsy has been conducted and the cause of death has been confirmed,” she said.

Zuko Lugalo, provincial secretary of the ANC Youth League, said Ngawonke Bulala also distinguished himself in the ranks of the South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) as a dedicated activist for free, quality education and the economic freedom for young people in the province.

“His passing is a devastating loss to the ANC Youth League, the broader ANC family in the Eastern Cape and the community-at-large that he was preparing to serve as a councillor.

"We have lost a fearless young activist whose passion for a better life for our people was evident to all who knew him.

“The Youth League condemns this senseless act of violence, that ultimately took his lifpe, in the strongest possible terms.

“The culture of gun violence that continues to rob our province of its best young cadres must come to an end.

“We continue to call upon law enforcement agencies to act with speed and ensure that those responsible for this cowardly act are brought to book.”

Lugalo said Bulala had an unwavering commitment to serve the people where it mattered the most, at grassroots level.

“We extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the Bulala family, his friends, his comrades in the ANCYL and the entire province. May his revolutionary spirit continue to inspire us to fight harder for a safe, just and prosperous Eastern Cape,” he said.

A Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime report, written by Julian Rademeyer, states that the forty-three political assassinations ahead of the November 4, 2026 local government elections are much higher than the thirty murders committed before the 2021 elections.

Ward 47 Councillor Sicelo Mleve was assassinated on 20 June in Zwide, Gqeberha when two gunmen disrupted an election debriefing meeting and robbed those in attendance before murdering Mleve.

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Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana requested anyone with information that could assist the investigation to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS App.

“All information will be treated confidentially,” she said.