SAPS ability to solve political killings questioned

THE KwaZulu-Natal Legislature has “condemned the inefficiency of state security machinery” and raised concern over the ability of the SAPS to arrest “masterminds” behind politically-motivated killings in the province.

The comments are contained in a report titled “Joint Committee Inputs on the Moerane Commission Report”, dated August 15.

The joint committee report came after a closed session on August 7 by members of the Premier’s portfolio committee and Community Safety Committee within the legislature, which reviewed the Moerane Commission of Inquiry report as part of its oversight duties.

Drafted by the chairpersons of the committees, Nonhlanhla Khoza and Bheki Ntuli respectively, the report called for the “damning allegations (by the Moerane report)… to be investigated”.

The committee’s comments give, for the first time, insight into what is contained in the Moerane Commission report, which is yet to be made public.

The Moerane Commission of Inquiry was established by premier Willies Mchunu in late 2016. It was tasked with investigating the underlying causes of political violence in the province since 2011, believed to have led to the murders of over 100 people to date. The commission ran for a year and heard testimony from more than 60 witnesses.

“The (joint) committee raised concerns that there seems to be no intention of tracking down the masterminds behind the political killings, and in some instances the suspects of these murders get killed in unrelated cases, thereby leading to cases being withdrawn or evidence being lost (such as in the) Magaqa case,” said the report.

Magaqa, a former ANC Youth League secretary-general, was shot in July 2017 and died two months later due to “complications from multiple gunshot wounds”.

Whistle-blowers have claimed Magaqa was killed after uncovering alleged corruption in a multimillion-rand community hall renovation tender at the Umzimkhulu local Municipality. The joint committee also criticised various state security agencies, questioned the Moerane Commission’s alleged bias against implicated parties from the IFP, demanded councillors be removed from the housing allocation process and called for greater transparency at municipalities.

“The language used in the report should have been consistent. When it is IFP killers, they are referred to as warlords… others as activists,” it added.