South Africa:A councillor is incarcerated after being accused of killing a distraught father during a funeral.

Dumsane Christopher Gonrover Masilela, a 34-year-old Pienaar council member, appeared before the Kanyamazane Periodical Court on Monday on two counts of attempted murder. In order to continue his bail application, the case was rescheduled for Tuesday.

As previously reported by IOL, Masilela was taken into custody last week for allegedly opening fire during an altercation that resulted in the death of a teenage girl.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane, a provincial police spokeswoman, the incident started on Thursday when a Pienaar father addressed his 16-year-old daughter after observing that she was upset and crying a lot.

The girl reportedly told him that a boy from her school had been abusing her.

Ndubane said the father drove with his daughter to the boy’s residence to identify the alleged perpetrator, but the boy was not home. He later returned and dropped off his daughter.

Later that day, the father discovered that his daughter had died by suicide. He cut the rope she had used to hang herself and rushed her to a nearby clinic, where she was certified dead.

At about 7.30 pm, while the father was at home, he heard noises in the sitting room. When he went to investigate, he found relatives of his late wife inside the house. They confronted him about not informing them of the girl’s death.

Ndubane said an argument broke out, and the Ward 29 councillor – known to the family as a friend of the girl’s maternal relatives – allegedly intervened and drew a firearm.

“The councillor is said to have fired a shot, grazing the father as well as a neighbour who tried to stop the fight,” she said.

Both victims were taken to hospital.

Ndubane said: “Two cases of attempted murder were opened at Pienaar SAPS, and through swift investigation, members were able to arrest the councillor.”

Acting provincial police commissioner Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi welcomed the arrest and criticised the councillor’s actions, saying he should have helped calm the situation instead of escalating it.