Killing of murder suspects ‘normal’

POLITICAL interference and the lack of political willpower could lead to the murder case of former ANC Youth League general-secretary Sindiso Magaqa remaining unsolved, his close political associate warned the Moerane Commission yesterday.

On his second day of testimony, former ANC Youth League Harry Gwala region secretary Thabiso Zulu, said the killing of suspects implicated in political murders had also become the order of the day in KwaZulu-Natal. He said this was done to protect corrupt political leaders.

Zulu told the commission that has been set up to investigate political murders in KwaZulu-Natal that Magaqa’s shooting in July was linked to other killings of ANC leaders in the province.

Zulu yesterday appeared before the commission in Mayville, Durban, with bundles of documents, saying he had come prepared to spill the beans on corruption and political killings.

He wore short pants, running shoes and soccer socks.

He said police had lied when they linked Jabu Mdunge, who had been killed early last month in Kokstad during a cash-in-transit-related shoot-out with police, to Magaqa’s murder.

Zulu described an assertion by EFF leader, Julius Malema that Magaqa had been killed because he was about to join Malema’s party as misleading.

He said Magaqa was killed because he was vocal against corruption in Umzimkhulu Municipality. One of the issues that Magaqa had been investigating was the millions of rand invested in the revamp of a community hall in the municipality. Despite millions being shelled out the project has stalled and is 50% complete even though construction work was expected to have started in 2011.

Zulu claimed police lied because they could not handle the mounting public pressure.

“They say the suspect is from Molweni but lived in Berea in Durban. They said he was living in a specific hostel.

“We checked with izinduna in the hostel, and they said they had never heard of this man” he said.

He said implicating a dead man was an attempt to bury the investigation.

“They (police) are going to collapse this case in the most convenient way possible because that will protect the masterminds.

“If they arrest two or three foot soldiers they can claim that they have killed the hitman but those behind the murders are never revealed. We know this takes place because we have been monitoring them,” he said.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, when asked to respond to Zulu’s claims, said the Hawks would not comment before the commission had an opportunity to complete its investigation.

He said other political murder investigations including those of ANC eThekwini regional secretary Sbu Sibiya and Wandile Mkhize, an ANC councillor in the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, Port Shepstone, had all reached similar dead ends.

Today, former Umzimkhulu mayor Mandla Ngcobo is expected to provide testimony on the murders in the Harry Gwala Region.