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Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize on Thursday clarified that a task team investigating political killings visited his property in Pietermaritzburg, but never raided his home, as stated in some media reports.
Mkhize said the "spot check" at his home in Willowfountain on September 28, while he and his wife were in Gauteng, related to the security guarding the property.
"The gentleman from the unit, Lt Col Tsikelele advised me that they were conducting spot checks on the security company, checking their compliance and to verify that all firearms belonging to the company were properly registered," he said in a statement.
Tsikelele apparently told him that they did not need to come into the house and it was the security company owners who had led them to different sites where their guards were deployed.
The Witness reported that police had arrived in a convoy of around 10 vehicles and entered the home.
Mkhize said the team did not have a search warrant to search his house and had no intention to raid the house. Rather, they were processing compliance documents with guards at the gate.
Some guards were taken to the police station because they didn't have some of the required permits with them.
He said they were released from custody on October 1 without charges being laid against them.
"It must be emphasised that the police have never linked me or my family with any wrongdoing. There was also no raid or search of our house other than the collection of weapons and guards taken for processing in [the] police station," said Mkhize.
He said there were no injuries and property was not damaged.
"Furthermore, the police did not mention searching for or finding illegal weapons or any direct link with any of the weapons to illegal activities as it has been regrettably reported by some media houses."
Mkhize has asked the security company to keep him posted about developments to ensure they fully comply with legal requirements.
He said he supported the investigations to solve crime, political killings and eliminate all violence, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.
