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Mpumalanga official's bodyguards shoot each other, one dies

Embalenhle - Two bodyguards hired to protect an official of the Govan Mbeki Municipality in Mpumalanga shot each other on Monday, with one dying and another being hospitalised.

The two bodyguards – aged 28 and 46 – were hired to protect the chairperson, Cyril Gwiji,  of the municipal accounts committee after threats were made against him.

Nhlakanipho Zuma, speaker of the Govan Mbeki Municipality, said the two bodyguards were hired while they waited "for the due processes to be followed".

"The bodyguards were hired because of threats against the councillor... and the municipality having had previous incidents and threats," Zuma said.

He said the municipality would be meeting on Tuesday about the threats to councillors as well as the altercation between the two bodyguards.

"Any matter that would involve violence is a concern to the municipality. The safety of our councillors is of utmost importance," he said.

Police spokesperson Captain Magonseni Nkosi said the 46-year-old man had been hospitalised, while the 28-year-old man died.

Nkosi said police were still investigating the matter, but there was an altercation between the two men where one shot the other one in the buttock.

"The other man tried to defend himself and during a struggle for the firearm more shots went off. The other man was shot. He died on the scene," Nkosi said.

This incident comes after a number of councillors had been killed in KwaZulu-Natal, while two other bodyguards in the province got into trouble after a video emerged where they were making threats and toting firearms including an AK47. 

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