APF activist in Orange Farm shot dead

ANTI-PRIVATISATION FORUM 

PRESS RELEASE
(Saturday 8th February 2003)
 
APF activist in Orange Farm shot dead in her home by two unknown 
assailants in what appears to be a politically motivated killing. 
 
APF condemns delayed police response and demands that the state use 
all resources at its disposal to find and apprehend the murderers.

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In what appears to be a politically motivated attack, 61 year-old 
APF and Orange Farm Crisis Committee activist Emily Nengolo, was 
shot dead in her home by two unknown assailants early this morning 
(Saturday 8th February). 
 
According to family members who were present in the house (located 
in Extension 1 of Orange Farm) at the time of the murder, two adult 
black males forced their way into Emily Nengolo's house around 1am 
on Friday night shining flashlights into the darkened rooms. When 
they came upon Emily Nengolo they were reported to have said, "this 
is the one we are looking for", and proceeded to shoot her twice. 
The two men ignored the other four people present, ran out of the 
house without taking anything and then disappeared into the streets 
of the sprawling settlement. Comrade Emily died on the spot.
 
Neighbours immediately called the police but they did not arrive 
until after 3am, by which time other community members and APF 
activists had gathered at the house. It took another four hours for 
the mortuary van to arrive to remove the corpse of Emily Nengolo. 
It was only after 7am in the morning that a police team arrived to 
secure the murder scene and conduct a search for fingerprints and 
other potential evidence.  
 
Emily Nengolo was an active member of the APF affiliate - the Orange 
Farm Crisis Committee - and had participated in numerous APF 
educational and political activities. She was a dedicated community 
activist who, most recently, had helped organise residents of the 
adjoining Driziek Extension 3 in Orange Farm, in publicising and 
resisting forced evictions initiated by the ANC-controlled local 
council.
 
From all the facts that are available at this stage, the APF can 
come to no other conclusion than that the murder of Emily Nengolo 
was politically motivated. The way in which the two unknown 
assailants carried out the murder, specifically targeting and 
identifying Comrade Emily in the dead of the night and having no 
interest in others who were present or in taking any material 
goods from the house, supports such a view. Over the last year, 
the OFCC has been actively and effectively involved in resisting 
water and electricity cut-offs and evictions in their community 
as well as building community organisation and struggle for 
meaningful socio-economic development in response to the anti-
people, GEAR-inspired policies being implemented by the ANC 
government. Late last year, one of the key leaders of OFCC was 
visited by operatives of the National Intelligence Agency in an 
obvious attempt to intimidate the OFCC into halting their activities. 
The same operatives were subsequently exposed to the community when 
they returned for a 'follow-up visit.'
  
The APF has issued several public statements since mid-2002, 
detailing how APF activists in various communities have been 
targets of intimidation and physical harassment/abuse as well as 
arrest and detention. We have warned that the intolerant and heavy-
handed responses by government to the legitimate political 
activities of the APF and its affiliates has created an atmosphere 
in which APF activists are often viewed as 'enemies of the state' 
and the governing party, the ANC. It is in such an atmosphere that 
the murder of Emily Nengolo has been carried out.
 
The APF demands that the government utilise all resources at its 
disposal to find, and apprehend the two men who murdered Comrade 
Emily. For our part, the APF and the Orange Farm Crisis Committee
will not rest until justice has been done. We will not be 
intimidated by what has happened nor will we desist from carrying 
on our legitimate struggles in the interests of the poor and 
working class.
 
To Comrade Emily's family members and close friends, the APF and 
the Orange Farm Crisis Committee extend our sincerest condolences. 
Comrade Emily will be remembered and celebrated as a woman of 
courage and principle, an activist who practiced what she 'preached' 
in the struggle for human dignity and equality.

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For more information contact: Briggs on 072 175-8948 or 
Dale on 072 429-4086 
 
Visit the updated APF website at http://www.apf.org.za