Two men were arrested on Wednesday for fraud relating to the building of the Mbombela stadium in Mpumalanga, the Hawks said. "We have arrested two men, one in Naturena and one in Cape Town. We are looking for the third suspect," said spokesperson Colonel McIntosh Polela.
He said the men were arrested on allegations that they forged SA Revenue Services (SARS) documents to obtain a contract to build the Mbombela stadium, a match venue for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Kaizer Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung has been widely reported to be one of the men arrested. However, Chiefs disputed Motaung's arrest, saying none of their workers had been arrested. "I have consulted with all principals at Kaizer Chiefs. We do not have any officials arrested. As of now (14:20) there are no indications of any arrests at the village," spokesperson Vina Maphosa said.
Source: News 24
Showing posts with label Jimmy Mohlala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Mohlala. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The indomitable David Mabuza, still the king of Mpumalanga
ANC chairman in Mpumalanga David Mabuza was elected unopposed in the party’s congress over the weekend. Yes, in the same way that Malema was elected unopposed last year. The ANC clearly has no appetite to kick another troubling leader out. You’d think the lesson of waiting too late to ostracise such a man would have been learned. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.
The way the ANC is structured is that it always seeks to point power upwards. More centralisation is good. Even so, provincial structures do exist, and the amount of influence that a provincial boss can exert is almost endless, if certain legal niceties are ignored. This arrangement has proven to be the perfect incubation for powerful regional party leaders, who turn out to be corrupt as well.
This growing trend ought to worry the ANC leadership, if it doesn’t already.
Two examples of this trend stand out: John Block of the Northern Cape, and David Mabuza of Mpumalanga.
Mpumalanga held its provincial congress over the weekend, where Mabuza and his entire slate were elected unopposed. It was expected that provincial treasurer and health MEC Clifford Mkasi would run against the party leader after the ANC Youth League in Mpumalanga touted him as their favoured candidate, but he declined his nomination.
The alliance partners of the ANC as well as the ANCYL complained that the entire process had been tainted by Mabuza. The SACP and Mpumalanga branch of Cosatu have accused Mabuza of using his position as premier to enrich himself and his allies. “The Youth League has also complained of being marginalised during his term. The provincial youth league, Cosatu and the SACP consider Mabuza unfit to hold the esteemed ANC position,” the Mail & Guardian reported.
They also said that they had intentionally been denied speaking opportunities at the congress on Sunday, apparently because Mabuza didn’t want their speakers to tell the delegates what they really thought of him. Ironically for the Mpumalanga ANCYL, its former national leader Julius Malema pulled a similar trick at the league’s national congress last year to ensure he’d run unopposed.
All of this happened against the backdrop of ANC president Jacob Zuma’s speech, in which he called for unity and asked for the enmity between different provincial factions to come to an end. It would appear that Mabuza happily complied by ensuring that his opponents didn’t get to speak or vote for another candidate.
Mpumalanga is not a stranger to what seems to be political assassinations. Caswell Maluleke, a council speaker in Ehlanzeni, was shot 14 times in April 2000. He was the mayor of Bushbuckridge at the time and had been appointed to help re-establish the defunct Bohlabela District Municipality in Limpopo. In 2009, Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala was killed after he started speaking out against tender corruption around the construction of the world cup stadium in that city. Last year, Ehlanzeni chief whip John Ndlovu was murdered.
The most dramatic example of the rot in Mpumalanga was the highly public arrest of Sunday Times investigative journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika in August 2010. He was arrested for reportedly having a forged letter sent to Zuma by Mabuza, in which he resigned as premier. The case eventually fell apart, but the arrest and subsequent interrogation by the Hawks and the police was seen as being politically motivated. The move was very stupid, but the truly chilling part is that Mabuza not only knew he could get away with it, but his own party let him get away with it.
All of this happened while Mabuza was in power, and amid widespread graft and very poor service delivery.
Let us not forget John Block, the Northern Cape party leader who was arrested for corruption in late 2010. He is the finance MEC for the Northern Cape as well as being the party chairman. At his trial, he not only enjoyed the support of picketing supporters outside (who claim that the case is politically motivated) but also that of premier Hazel Jenkins, who has made a habit of sitting in the front row of the court when Block’s case is being heard.
So where does Mabuza’s re-election leave the ANC? Zuma for one will be sleeping a lot easier: his staunch supporter has won. What this steamrolling and bullying of opponents will mean for Mangaung has yet to be seen, since another candidate has yet to officially present him- or herself. As for his opponents, Mabuza has grandly promised not to make a provincial reshuffle to punish those who didn’t support him.
Where it leaves the rest of us is uncertain. There is the very real problem that ANC members are using their positions in government to run the province as their personal fiefdoms, and it seems there is precious little that can or will be done about it. From a political perspective, Zuma has nothing to gain by upsetting a major ally. Intervention in dysfunctional provinces hasn’t exactly proven to be a miracle drug and has only served to soil relations between provinces and the national leadership within the ANC.
There’s the frightening thought that these provincial men and women might take this habit with them into national positions. And who is going to step in to stop them, what with Zuma himself finding the very narrow path of strict legality so hard to tread?
Don’t forget David Mabuza. His face could one day be that of our slip into a very bad place. DM
The way the ANC is structured is that it always seeks to point power upwards. More centralisation is good. Even so, provincial structures do exist, and the amount of influence that a provincial boss can exert is almost endless, if certain legal niceties are ignored. This arrangement has proven to be the perfect incubation for powerful regional party leaders, who turn out to be corrupt as well.
This growing trend ought to worry the ANC leadership, if it doesn’t already.
Two examples of this trend stand out: John Block of the Northern Cape, and David Mabuza of Mpumalanga.
Mpumalanga held its provincial congress over the weekend, where Mabuza and his entire slate were elected unopposed. It was expected that provincial treasurer and health MEC Clifford Mkasi would run against the party leader after the ANC Youth League in Mpumalanga touted him as their favoured candidate, but he declined his nomination.
The alliance partners of the ANC as well as the ANCYL complained that the entire process had been tainted by Mabuza. The SACP and Mpumalanga branch of Cosatu have accused Mabuza of using his position as premier to enrich himself and his allies. “The Youth League has also complained of being marginalised during his term. The provincial youth league, Cosatu and the SACP consider Mabuza unfit to hold the esteemed ANC position,” the Mail & Guardian reported.
They also said that they had intentionally been denied speaking opportunities at the congress on Sunday, apparently because Mabuza didn’t want their speakers to tell the delegates what they really thought of him. Ironically for the Mpumalanga ANCYL, its former national leader Julius Malema pulled a similar trick at the league’s national congress last year to ensure he’d run unopposed.
All of this happened against the backdrop of ANC president Jacob Zuma’s speech, in which he called for unity and asked for the enmity between different provincial factions to come to an end. It would appear that Mabuza happily complied by ensuring that his opponents didn’t get to speak or vote for another candidate.
Mpumalanga is not a stranger to what seems to be political assassinations. Caswell Maluleke, a council speaker in Ehlanzeni, was shot 14 times in April 2000. He was the mayor of Bushbuckridge at the time and had been appointed to help re-establish the defunct Bohlabela District Municipality in Limpopo. In 2009, Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala was killed after he started speaking out against tender corruption around the construction of the world cup stadium in that city. Last year, Ehlanzeni chief whip John Ndlovu was murdered.
The most dramatic example of the rot in Mpumalanga was the highly public arrest of Sunday Times investigative journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika in August 2010. He was arrested for reportedly having a forged letter sent to Zuma by Mabuza, in which he resigned as premier. The case eventually fell apart, but the arrest and subsequent interrogation by the Hawks and the police was seen as being politically motivated. The move was very stupid, but the truly chilling part is that Mabuza not only knew he could get away with it, but his own party let him get away with it.
All of this happened while Mabuza was in power, and amid widespread graft and very poor service delivery.
Let us not forget John Block, the Northern Cape party leader who was arrested for corruption in late 2010. He is the finance MEC for the Northern Cape as well as being the party chairman. At his trial, he not only enjoyed the support of picketing supporters outside (who claim that the case is politically motivated) but also that of premier Hazel Jenkins, who has made a habit of sitting in the front row of the court when Block’s case is being heard.
So where does Mabuza’s re-election leave the ANC? Zuma for one will be sleeping a lot easier: his staunch supporter has won. What this steamrolling and bullying of opponents will mean for Mangaung has yet to be seen, since another candidate has yet to officially present him- or herself. As for his opponents, Mabuza has grandly promised not to make a provincial reshuffle to punish those who didn’t support him.
Where it leaves the rest of us is uncertain. There is the very real problem that ANC members are using their positions in government to run the province as their personal fiefdoms, and it seems there is precious little that can or will be done about it. From a political perspective, Zuma has nothing to gain by upsetting a major ally. Intervention in dysfunctional provinces hasn’t exactly proven to be a miracle drug and has only served to soil relations between provinces and the national leadership within the ANC.
There’s the frightening thought that these provincial men and women might take this habit with them into national positions. And who is going to step in to stop them, what with Zuma himself finding the very narrow path of strict legality so hard to tread?
Don’t forget David Mabuza. His face could one day be that of our slip into a very bad place. DM
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Poisoned: The man who blew the whistle on Mpumalanga's hit squad
Nkambule collapsed and died at his home in Mjindini on Thursday night last week. At the time he was attempting to get a Mozambican man - who he believed to be the hit man - placed in the witness protection programme. The autopsy, conducted by Mpumalanga chief medical officer Dr Gantcho Gantchev, concludes his death was "unnatural". In the postmortem report, Gantchev describes "white foamy material" found in Nkambule's throat and windpipe, and about 30ml of brownish fluid "suggestive of ... poison ingestion" in his stomach. Gantchev told the Sunday Times: "There is no smoke without fire." "They killed him, they killed my dad," Nkambule's daughter, Buhle Nkambule, said on hearing the news. Toxicology tests will establish the type of poison and when it entered his system.
Nkambule first rose to prominence in 2001 when he claimed there was a plot to overthrow then president Thabo Mbeki. He had been branded a "professional liar" by the ANC after publicly accusing members Mathews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa of being behind the move.
The ex-ANC member also recently claimed that Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza paid R400000 towards President Jacob Zuma's wedding last year. These claims were never denied by the Presidency. His wife, Claudia Xwabe, said this week that Dr Gantchev had told the family that the postmortem showed there was "a drug in (Nkambule's) body".
On Friday, police confirmed that "foul play" was suspected. "We have opened an inquest into the death," said provincial police spokesman Captain Leonard Hlati. Nkambule had recently met with police commissioner General Bheki Cele to discuss efforts to bring a Mozambican man, known in the criminal underworld as "Josh", to South Africa, where he was to be placed under a witness protection programme. Josh was to testify against prominent figures regarding the death of former Mbombela municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala. Mohlala was killed after he blew the whistle on irregularities in the awarding of tenders to build the R2-billion Mbombela stadium. Mohlala's name was on a hit list of nine municipal officials opposed to awarding the contract for the construction of the stadium.
Josh has since claimed in an affidavit, now in the possession of the police, that he was hired by Mpumalanga officials and a soccer boss as a "cleaner" from 2000 until 2009 to eliminate political and business opponents. His work included smuggling drugs, poisoning people and carrying out other "hits". He said that the people he targeted included Nkambule; a former mayor of the Gert Sibande district council, Andries Gamede; Scopa chairman Fish Mahlalela; and Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo.
He further alleged that Govan Mbeki municipality chief financial officer Joshua Ntshuhle's car was driven to Malawi to make it look like he had vanished. Ntshuhle went missing in December 2005, days before he was due to testify in the fraud and corruption trial of the municipality's marketing manager, Sibusiso Sigudla. The gangster further claimed that he was hired, along with three Zimbabwean nationals and a fellow Mozambican, to kill Mohlala. He said four of the men who helped carry out the hit on Mohlala had since been killed.
Nkambule recently slammed the police investigations into the murders - which might have also exposed the tender irregularities - as slow. He was due to appear in court this week on charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice after police accused him of fabricating the sworn statement by Josh.
The Sunday Times has established that the police have yet to question anyone in connection with Nkambule's earlier complaint that he had been poisoned. The politician had maintained he was poisoned in 2006 by political opponents, leaving him having to be hospitalised several times. In August last year, Nkambule said, Josh approached him and confessed that he had poisoned him on instructions from a senior politician. In a statement seen by the Sunday Times, Josh details how he was handed "a small bottle that was full of liquid substances" in 2006, and instructed to infiltrate a company catering for a matric dance in Barberton where Nkambule was a guest speaker. "I did in September 2006 ... empty the bottle ... in James Nkambule's food and I went to personally serve him at his table," he said in his statement.
Josh claimed he was prompted to confess to Nkambule after he learnt that his fellow assassins had all been executed to destroy evidence. Nkambule submitted the statement to police in February - whereupon he was arrested on suspicion of fabricating the statement. Hlati this week rubbished Nkambule and Josh's claims: "We did not question any person because we did not receive any statement from Josh," he said on Friday. "If you have this Josh, please produce him."
Source: Times Live
Monday, October 4, 2010
Cops Implicated in Murder of Senior Politician
Community activists swamped the KaBokweni magistrate's court on Monday to catch a glimpse of the men accused of executing the corruption-busting speaker of Mpumalanga's capital city, Jimmy Mohlala. Two of the accused are policemen, while a third accused is the mother of the alleged trigger-man.
Mohlala was shot dead on January 4 last year after three gunmen invaded his KaNyamazane home. His 19-year-old son, Tshepiso, was shot and injured. On Monday, bail was set at R10 000 each for the four suspects, who were arrested on Saturday.
The suspects - Jenny Mabika (56) who is a cleaner at Rob Ferreira hospital, unemployed Moses Mahungela (33), and two police constables, Dumisani Mhlanga of the Nelspruit flying squad and Musa Mkhabela of the KaNyamazane police - were not asked to plead to charges of murder and attempted murder.
Mohlala's widow, Bonny, was at the court on Monday to face the four accused. Looking exhausted, Mrs Mohlala told African Eye News Service (AENS) that she was disappointed that the suspects include two policemen. “I am still shocked that the people who are supposed to protect us, are actually the ones who are accused of murdering my husband. Now it explains why it took the police over 20 months to make arrests, because their own are involved,” said Mohlala. She said the arrests, while welcome, were traumatic as the family was reliving the events of Mohlala's murder. “We just want closure on this matter,” she said.
Mpumalanga police spokesman Captain Leonard Hlathi said the suspects were arrested after police received a tip-off. He said the murder charge related to Mohlala's death, while the attempted murder charge related to the shooting and injuring of his teenaged son, Tshepiso. Hlathi said the hospital cleaner is the mother of a fifth suspect who is believed to have pulled the trigger and is still at large. “She is also implicated in this case because we have evidence that she has been hiding (her son) from the police,” Hlathi said. He said the charges against her may therefore be reduced to charges of conspiracy or defeating the ends of justice.
The four accused were able to pay bail and are expected to appear in court again on November 5. Mohlala's nephew, Pat Mohlala, was disappointed at the amount set for bail. “Personally, I am not happy about the bail," he said. "R10 000 is peanuts in a high profile case like this.”
Lawyer for the suspects, Slungu Thobela of Thobela Attorneys, said the State does not have a case against his clients. “The police do not have anything that link my clients to this case, so I don't believe they have a case against them,” said Thobela.
Mohlala was killed a week before he was scheduled to testify about former municipal manager Jacob Dladla's refusal to implement 361 council resolutions, as well as Dladla's role in the poor management of the 2010 Mbombela stadium project. Mohlala was also planning to recommend that fraud charges be laid against Lefika Emerging Equity, the 2010 stadium project managers. A letter dated December 22, 2008, was sent by Lefika on a Mbombela municipality letterhead to First National Bank as surety for an overdraft facility. The letter bears the name of acting municipal manager, Sigananda Siboza. Mohlala and Siboza both claimed the letter was fraudulent.
Source: Capital
Mohlala was shot dead on January 4 last year after three gunmen invaded his KaNyamazane home. His 19-year-old son, Tshepiso, was shot and injured. On Monday, bail was set at R10 000 each for the four suspects, who were arrested on Saturday.
The suspects - Jenny Mabika (56) who is a cleaner at Rob Ferreira hospital, unemployed Moses Mahungela (33), and two police constables, Dumisani Mhlanga of the Nelspruit flying squad and Musa Mkhabela of the KaNyamazane police - were not asked to plead to charges of murder and attempted murder.
Mohlala's widow, Bonny, was at the court on Monday to face the four accused. Looking exhausted, Mrs Mohlala told African Eye News Service (AENS) that she was disappointed that the suspects include two policemen. “I am still shocked that the people who are supposed to protect us, are actually the ones who are accused of murdering my husband. Now it explains why it took the police over 20 months to make arrests, because their own are involved,” said Mohlala. She said the arrests, while welcome, were traumatic as the family was reliving the events of Mohlala's murder. “We just want closure on this matter,” she said.
Mpumalanga police spokesman Captain Leonard Hlathi said the suspects were arrested after police received a tip-off. He said the murder charge related to Mohlala's death, while the attempted murder charge related to the shooting and injuring of his teenaged son, Tshepiso. Hlathi said the hospital cleaner is the mother of a fifth suspect who is believed to have pulled the trigger and is still at large. “She is also implicated in this case because we have evidence that she has been hiding (her son) from the police,” Hlathi said. He said the charges against her may therefore be reduced to charges of conspiracy or defeating the ends of justice.
The four accused were able to pay bail and are expected to appear in court again on November 5. Mohlala's nephew, Pat Mohlala, was disappointed at the amount set for bail. “Personally, I am not happy about the bail," he said. "R10 000 is peanuts in a high profile case like this.”
Lawyer for the suspects, Slungu Thobela of Thobela Attorneys, said the State does not have a case against his clients. “The police do not have anything that link my clients to this case, so I don't believe they have a case against them,” said Thobela.
Mohlala was killed a week before he was scheduled to testify about former municipal manager Jacob Dladla's refusal to implement 361 council resolutions, as well as Dladla's role in the poor management of the 2010 Mbombela stadium project. Mohlala was also planning to recommend that fraud charges be laid against Lefika Emerging Equity, the 2010 stadium project managers. A letter dated December 22, 2008, was sent by Lefika on a Mbombela municipality letterhead to First National Bank as surety for an overdraft facility. The letter bears the name of acting municipal manager, Sigananda Siboza. Mohlala and Siboza both claimed the letter was fraudulent.
Source: Capital
Thursday, September 9, 2010
'Fake Letter' Official gets Death Threats
The government official caught at the centre of the controversy surrounding journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika's arrest has apparently been receiving death threats. Victor Mlimi, a Mbombela councillor and deputy director in Mpumalanga's housing department, says that he has been suspended from his government post on 54 "trumped up" misconduct charges and has also received telephonic death threats.
Mlimi was arrested and charged alongside Wa Afrika on fraud, forgery and uttering (circulating fraudulent items) charges for supposedly being in possession of an alleged fake letter of resignation from Premier David Mabuza to President Jacob Zuma. The charges were provisionally withdrawn on Wednesday, to allow the State to properly investigate the allegations and the actual role played by Wa Afrika and Mlimi in the controversy. “It is strange that I was arrested and charged for a document that was not in my possession. This case has made my life difficult because since I was arrested I've received death threats from faceless people. I was also suspended two weeks ago, on very strange charges," Mlimi told African Eye News Service (AENS). He said he had neither reported the threats to the police nor had he hired private security. “What is the point of reporting death threats to the police in this province? They are the people who arrested me. They are probably on the payroll of the person who is behind the whole mess here," he said.
Mlimi said he also received death threats in 2005, when he protested against intimidation during the election of a chairperson of the ANC Ehlanzeni regional executive council that year. He said. more recently, he was accused of paying the R8 000 bail of former ANC member James Nkambule, now COPE's chairman in Ehlanzeni, after his arrest in March. Nkambule was arrested for supposedly obstructing justice, fraud and forgery after claiming to be in possession of a hit-list of politicians and officials believed to be critical of the provincial government. Nkambule claimed that the list was drafted by a hitman, known only as 'Josh', who had been hired by a high-level but unnamed politician.
Mlimi's name was on the list, along with the assassinated speaker of the Mbombela local municipality Jimmy Mohlala, who was investigating tender irregularities around the Mbombela Stadium. “My only mistake was to attend Nkambule's court appearance, not knowing that the next time I came to court I would be an accused in [this] strange political case,” he said.
Mlimi declined to say on Wednesday whether he intended suing for defamation or other damages after the charges were withdrawn this week. Wa Afrika has indicated that he intends suing individuals in both government and political parties. He refused to name the people.
Premier Mabuza's office has, however, made a number of public statements accusing Nkambule and Wa Afrika of undermining government and participating in a campaign to unseat Mabuza. The provincial ANC Youth League and the South African National Civic Organisation have gone further and accused the two of being 'traitors'. Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, this week refused to comment of the withdrawal of charges. Provincial ANCY spokesman Ozzy Ronald Lamola said however that it is "disappointing" to hear that Wa Afrika was a free man. “Our disappointment stems from the fact that he was accused of a very dangerous crime that warranted him being charged with high treason. We, however, respect the due process of the law and hope that he is not off the hook as we believe that the investigation will confirm that he must indeed be charged with high treason,” said Lamola.
Sanco provincial treasurer Raymond Makamo accused the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of bowing to public pressure by withdrawing the charges against Wa Afrika. “Why did they charge him in the first place if they did not have enough evidence against him? We believe that there is a case against Wa Afrika,” said Makamo.
After Mlimi and Wa Afrika's brief court appearance on Wednesday, the NPA returned Wa Afrika's passport, notebooks and other documents that were confiscated from his house when he was arrested on August 4.
Source: Capital
Mlimi was arrested and charged alongside Wa Afrika on fraud, forgery and uttering (circulating fraudulent items) charges for supposedly being in possession of an alleged fake letter of resignation from Premier David Mabuza to President Jacob Zuma. The charges were provisionally withdrawn on Wednesday, to allow the State to properly investigate the allegations and the actual role played by Wa Afrika and Mlimi in the controversy. “It is strange that I was arrested and charged for a document that was not in my possession. This case has made my life difficult because since I was arrested I've received death threats from faceless people. I was also suspended two weeks ago, on very strange charges," Mlimi told African Eye News Service (AENS). He said he had neither reported the threats to the police nor had he hired private security. “What is the point of reporting death threats to the police in this province? They are the people who arrested me. They are probably on the payroll of the person who is behind the whole mess here," he said.
Mlimi said he also received death threats in 2005, when he protested against intimidation during the election of a chairperson of the ANC Ehlanzeni regional executive council that year. He said. more recently, he was accused of paying the R8 000 bail of former ANC member James Nkambule, now COPE's chairman in Ehlanzeni, after his arrest in March. Nkambule was arrested for supposedly obstructing justice, fraud and forgery after claiming to be in possession of a hit-list of politicians and officials believed to be critical of the provincial government. Nkambule claimed that the list was drafted by a hitman, known only as 'Josh', who had been hired by a high-level but unnamed politician.
Mlimi's name was on the list, along with the assassinated speaker of the Mbombela local municipality Jimmy Mohlala, who was investigating tender irregularities around the Mbombela Stadium. “My only mistake was to attend Nkambule's court appearance, not knowing that the next time I came to court I would be an accused in [this] strange political case,” he said.
Mlimi declined to say on Wednesday whether he intended suing for defamation or other damages after the charges were withdrawn this week. Wa Afrika has indicated that he intends suing individuals in both government and political parties. He refused to name the people.
Premier Mabuza's office has, however, made a number of public statements accusing Nkambule and Wa Afrika of undermining government and participating in a campaign to unseat Mabuza. The provincial ANC Youth League and the South African National Civic Organisation have gone further and accused the two of being 'traitors'. Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, this week refused to comment of the withdrawal of charges. Provincial ANCY spokesman Ozzy Ronald Lamola said however that it is "disappointing" to hear that Wa Afrika was a free man. “Our disappointment stems from the fact that he was accused of a very dangerous crime that warranted him being charged with high treason. We, however, respect the due process of the law and hope that he is not off the hook as we believe that the investigation will confirm that he must indeed be charged with high treason,” said Lamola.
Sanco provincial treasurer Raymond Makamo accused the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of bowing to public pressure by withdrawing the charges against Wa Afrika. “Why did they charge him in the first place if they did not have enough evidence against him? We believe that there is a case against Wa Afrika,” said Makamo.
After Mlimi and Wa Afrika's brief court appearance on Wednesday, the NPA returned Wa Afrika's passport, notebooks and other documents that were confiscated from his house when he was arrested on August 4.
Source: Capital
Friday, August 13, 2010
Spin doctor red-faced over fake letter
Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza's spin doctors seem to have played a central role in circulating the fake letter that led to the dramatic arrest of Sunday Times investigative journalist, Mzilikazi wa Afrika, last week.
Mabuza's chief spokesperson, Mabutho Sithole, reluctantly admitted on Thursday that he personally tipped off journalists about the existence of the letter, in which the premier purportedly confirms his resignation to President Jacob Zuma. He also emailed a PDF copy of the letter to at least two journalists at the same time as the premier's office was lodging criminal charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice against "conspirators" Wa Afrika and Mbombela (Nelspruit) councillor Victor Mlimi. The charges were changed last week after the two had been arrested to fraud, forgery and "uttering" — which is knowingly circulating a fraudulent document.
The letter came from a confidential source and was faxed, via Mlimi, to Wa Afrika, who received it on July 21. Wa Afrika then passed the letter on to another Sunday Times journalist, who followed it up with the premier's office by sending it to Sithole for verification.
Sithole has confirmed receiving the PDF version of the letter from the Sunday Times on July 24. "I knew immediately that it was fake. The signature is nothing like the premier's real one. I told them it was part of a plot to destabilise the province and smear the premier," said Sithole. Based on Sithole's response, plus denials from the presidency and ANC, the Sunday Times decided against publishing a story on the issue.
Sithole nevertheless phoned Sowetan journalist Alfred Moselakgomo the following day, July 25, to tip him off about the "rumours" and the existence of the letter. Sithole then emailed a copy of the PDF letter to Sowetan's Mpumalanga bureau chief, Riot Hlatshwayo, and Sowetan reporter Kingdom Mabuza on Monday July 26. "We hadn't even heard rumours about the issue until the tip-off on the Sunday, and would not have had enough evidence to publish anything if we hadn't received the letter from Mabutho," says Hlatshwayo.
Hlatshwayo co-wrote a story about the allegations and then forwarded the PDF letter to City Press, Beeld, The Witness, Jacaranda FM and investigative news agency African Eye News Service (AENS). He also tipped off colleagues in the SABC's local radio and TV news teams. The SABC and City Press subsequently ran stories on the rumoured resignation and Mabuza's insistence that the publicity was part of a political plot to oust him and to topple the provincial administration.
Sithole refused to say why Wa Afrika had been targeted for arrest when he had not circulated the letter or written about it, or why journalists who had circulated it and written about the controversy had not been charged. "Regardless of how the journalists got the letter, there is a plot, and journalists are part of it. We have evidence. But this whole matter is now sub judice and I will not comment further [out of] respect for the legal process," said Sithole. He refused to confirm or deny whether the evidence against Wa Afrika was based on surveillance of the media by intelligence agencies. Mabuza has previously boasted about receiving weekly classified reports on "troublemakers" in the province, including reports about "people who say things". "I checked with [Mabuza] and he will not tell me yes or no. He said he is not going to tell me, because the information is classified," said Sithole.
He also refused to say why the province had not pressed charges in the case of another high-profile fraudulent letter — one purportedly used by project management company, Lefika Emerging Equity. Lefika, whose owners include Kaizer Chiefs general manager Bobby Motaung and Mpumalanga tycoon Herbert Theledi, allegedly wrote a fraudulent letter to First National Bank. The letter, on the Mbombela municipality's letterhead, requested an overdraft based on the claim that it had submitted a sizeable invoice to the council in December 2008 for its work on the Mbombela stadium.
Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala, who announced publicly that he intended lodging fraud charges with police, was killed in front of his teenage son in January 2009, two days before he was scheduled to meet investigators.
Lefika and Motaung were not immediately available for comment, but both repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo said at the time that the murder was an assassination to silence Mohlala and said he and other council officials had received threatening calls.
The Sunday Times confirmed on Thursday that Wa Afrika had been investigating why no fraud charge had been lodged in the case and why no one had been arrested for the killing. The paper's legal spokesperson, Susan Smuts, also confirmed that Wa Afrika claimed that he had been followed and narrowly evaded a possible kidnap attempt in the province in April. Another journalist who has started looking into the case, City Press's Sizwe samaYende, is currently under 24-hour protection after dodging a gunman who ambushed him at his Mbombela home last Friday night. "Both these cases, Wa Afrika's matter and Mohlala's murder, are active and ongoing investigations and as such I cannot comment on them," said Hawks spokesperson Musa Zondi on Thursday afternoon.
Wa Afrika and Mlimi are both out on R5000 bail each, pending further investigation by the Hawks. They have had to surrender their passports and are scheduled to reappear in the Nelspruit courts on November 8. Wa Afrika's attorney, Eric van den Berg, meanwhile confirmed that the Hawks had agreed to return Wa Afrika's notebooks and research files, which were seized from the journalist's home without a search warrant immediately after his arrest last week and were turned over to crime intelligence officers in Mpumalanga for "analysis". They include material stretching back 11 years, including notes on his investigations into the arms deal, Travelgate and other scandals.
Media freedom organisations, including the South African National Editors' Forum, have expressed concern that the identity of whistleblowers and confidential sources unrelated to the fraudulent letter case may have been compromised.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Mabuza's chief spokesperson, Mabutho Sithole, reluctantly admitted on Thursday that he personally tipped off journalists about the existence of the letter, in which the premier purportedly confirms his resignation to President Jacob Zuma. He also emailed a PDF copy of the letter to at least two journalists at the same time as the premier's office was lodging criminal charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice against "conspirators" Wa Afrika and Mbombela (Nelspruit) councillor Victor Mlimi. The charges were changed last week after the two had been arrested to fraud, forgery and "uttering" — which is knowingly circulating a fraudulent document.
The letter came from a confidential source and was faxed, via Mlimi, to Wa Afrika, who received it on July 21. Wa Afrika then passed the letter on to another Sunday Times journalist, who followed it up with the premier's office by sending it to Sithole for verification.
Sithole has confirmed receiving the PDF version of the letter from the Sunday Times on July 24. "I knew immediately that it was fake. The signature is nothing like the premier's real one. I told them it was part of a plot to destabilise the province and smear the premier," said Sithole. Based on Sithole's response, plus denials from the presidency and ANC, the Sunday Times decided against publishing a story on the issue.
Sithole nevertheless phoned Sowetan journalist Alfred Moselakgomo the following day, July 25, to tip him off about the "rumours" and the existence of the letter. Sithole then emailed a copy of the PDF letter to Sowetan's Mpumalanga bureau chief, Riot Hlatshwayo, and Sowetan reporter Kingdom Mabuza on Monday July 26. "We hadn't even heard rumours about the issue until the tip-off on the Sunday, and would not have had enough evidence to publish anything if we hadn't received the letter from Mabutho," says Hlatshwayo.
Hlatshwayo co-wrote a story about the allegations and then forwarded the PDF letter to City Press, Beeld, The Witness, Jacaranda FM and investigative news agency African Eye News Service (AENS). He also tipped off colleagues in the SABC's local radio and TV news teams. The SABC and City Press subsequently ran stories on the rumoured resignation and Mabuza's insistence that the publicity was part of a political plot to oust him and to topple the provincial administration.
Sithole refused to say why Wa Afrika had been targeted for arrest when he had not circulated the letter or written about it, or why journalists who had circulated it and written about the controversy had not been charged. "Regardless of how the journalists got the letter, there is a plot, and journalists are part of it. We have evidence. But this whole matter is now sub judice and I will not comment further [out of] respect for the legal process," said Sithole. He refused to confirm or deny whether the evidence against Wa Afrika was based on surveillance of the media by intelligence agencies. Mabuza has previously boasted about receiving weekly classified reports on "troublemakers" in the province, including reports about "people who say things". "I checked with [Mabuza] and he will not tell me yes or no. He said he is not going to tell me, because the information is classified," said Sithole.
He also refused to say why the province had not pressed charges in the case of another high-profile fraudulent letter — one purportedly used by project management company, Lefika Emerging Equity. Lefika, whose owners include Kaizer Chiefs general manager Bobby Motaung and Mpumalanga tycoon Herbert Theledi, allegedly wrote a fraudulent letter to First National Bank. The letter, on the Mbombela municipality's letterhead, requested an overdraft based on the claim that it had submitted a sizeable invoice to the council in December 2008 for its work on the Mbombela stadium.
Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala, who announced publicly that he intended lodging fraud charges with police, was killed in front of his teenage son in January 2009, two days before he was scheduled to meet investigators.
Lefika and Motaung were not immediately available for comment, but both repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo said at the time that the murder was an assassination to silence Mohlala and said he and other council officials had received threatening calls.
The Sunday Times confirmed on Thursday that Wa Afrika had been investigating why no fraud charge had been lodged in the case and why no one had been arrested for the killing. The paper's legal spokesperson, Susan Smuts, also confirmed that Wa Afrika claimed that he had been followed and narrowly evaded a possible kidnap attempt in the province in April. Another journalist who has started looking into the case, City Press's Sizwe samaYende, is currently under 24-hour protection after dodging a gunman who ambushed him at his Mbombela home last Friday night. "Both these cases, Wa Afrika's matter and Mohlala's murder, are active and ongoing investigations and as such I cannot comment on them," said Hawks spokesperson Musa Zondi on Thursday afternoon.
Wa Afrika and Mlimi are both out on R5000 bail each, pending further investigation by the Hawks. They have had to surrender their passports and are scheduled to reappear in the Nelspruit courts on November 8. Wa Afrika's attorney, Eric van den Berg, meanwhile confirmed that the Hawks had agreed to return Wa Afrika's notebooks and research files, which were seized from the journalist's home without a search warrant immediately after his arrest last week and were turned over to crime intelligence officers in Mpumalanga for "analysis". They include material stretching back 11 years, including notes on his investigations into the arms deal, Travelgate and other scandals.
Media freedom organisations, including the South African National Editors' Forum, have expressed concern that the identity of whistleblowers and confidential sources unrelated to the fraudulent letter case may have been compromised.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The premier and the faxed letter
It is now clear that Sunday Times reporter Mzilikazi wa Afrika's arrest on Wednesday was directly related to an allegedly fraudulent resignation letter purportedly written by Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza.
The letter, dated June 2 2010, is addressed to President Jacob Zuma and asks Zuma to relieve him of his duties with effect from July 17, shortly after the end of the World Cup, in order not to divert attention from the soccer tournament. The document was widely circulated by fax among journalists. After learning that such a fax had been sent to the Sunday Times, Mabuza's office opened a fraud case at the Kabokweni police station, about 30km outside Nelspruit.
One of the recipients of the letter was wa Afrika - a journalist Mabuza's office has accused of portraying the province as a "butcher ground" for political enemies. The reference is to a series of reports about the murder of former Mbombela council speaker Jimmy Mohlala and the assassination of other senior ANC figures in the province. Mohlala had exposed alleged corruption in World Cup tenders, including those for Nelspruit's Mbombela Stadium.
Wa Afrika and this reporter had penned articles about a Mozambican man , identified only as "Josh", who claimed to have been hired as an assassin by a senior Mpumalanga politician. The series also covered the mysterious deaths of several civil servants - including a provincial government spokes-man, Sammy Mpatlanyane, who was shot and killed at his home in January.
Mabuza's silence on the killings and the emergence of an alleged hit list containing names of senior ANC leaders in the province added to the political pressure on the premier on the back of nearly a year of service-delivery protests in the province. Mabuza, a wealthy politician who opts to live on his farm rather than in an official residence, had initially had a smooth run after beating Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo to the post of ANC chairman of Mpumalanga. But this did not last for the man known as "The Hurricane" due to his verbal outbursts and propensity to shout at his staff. In May 2009, after his appointment as premier, service-delivery protests flared in Mpumalanga. Seven local municipalities were affected, including Thaba Chweu in Mashishing (formerly Lydenburg), Mkhondo in Piet Retief, Pixley ka Seme in Volksrust, Emalahleni in Emalahleni (formerly Witbank), Mbombela, Lekwa in Standerton and Dipaliseng in Balfour.
In most areas the protests turned violent with government buildings being razed and police firing rubber bullets at crowds. At the height of the protests, Mabuza's close ally, Raymond Makamo, accused ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa of being part of a plot to oust Mabuza by "funding and fuelling" the protests. Phosa is suing Makamo, the Mpumalanga secretary of the SA National Civics Organisation, for R1-million in damages for this. In September last year, a group of disgruntled ANC members organised a press conference to discuss the removal of Mabuza as provincial chairman. The press conference was cancelled at the last minute after some members - claiming to have received threatening phone calls - decided not to attend. The group later wrote to Zuma, asking him to remove Mabuza as premier. "Mr President, may you please relieve our Premier of his duties if you want to see progress in the province," the letter read.
The letter went on to accuse Mabuza of a litany of irregularities while he was MEC for three departments - education, agriculture, and roads and transport. It also accused him of buying cars for local journalists in return for their writing positive stories about him. His spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". Nonetheless, in 1998 Mabuza was forced to resign as MEC for education after a forensic investigation found his department had inflated the province's matric pass rate from 46% to 72.5%. About 7000 pupils who had been told they had "passed" their exams were later told they had failed.
Early last year, former provincial ANC Youth League secretary James Nkambule claimed that Mabuza had paid R400000 towards Zuma' s wedding in 2008. Nkambule made the claim in a letter to ANC secretary- general Gwede Mantashe, in which he accused Mabuza of having used his financial position to land the position as premier. N either Zuma nor Mabuza's offices have disputed the payment.
Source: Times Live
The letter, dated June 2 2010, is addressed to President Jacob Zuma and asks Zuma to relieve him of his duties with effect from July 17, shortly after the end of the World Cup, in order not to divert attention from the soccer tournament. The document was widely circulated by fax among journalists. After learning that such a fax had been sent to the Sunday Times, Mabuza's office opened a fraud case at the Kabokweni police station, about 30km outside Nelspruit.
One of the recipients of the letter was wa Afrika - a journalist Mabuza's office has accused of portraying the province as a "butcher ground" for political enemies. The reference is to a series of reports about the murder of former Mbombela council speaker Jimmy Mohlala and the assassination of other senior ANC figures in the province. Mohlala had exposed alleged corruption in World Cup tenders, including those for Nelspruit's Mbombela Stadium.
Wa Afrika and this reporter had penned articles about a Mozambican man , identified only as "Josh", who claimed to have been hired as an assassin by a senior Mpumalanga politician. The series also covered the mysterious deaths of several civil servants - including a provincial government spokes-man, Sammy Mpatlanyane, who was shot and killed at his home in January.
Mabuza's silence on the killings and the emergence of an alleged hit list containing names of senior ANC leaders in the province added to the political pressure on the premier on the back of nearly a year of service-delivery protests in the province. Mabuza, a wealthy politician who opts to live on his farm rather than in an official residence, had initially had a smooth run after beating Mbombela mayor Lassy Chiwayo to the post of ANC chairman of Mpumalanga. But this did not last for the man known as "The Hurricane" due to his verbal outbursts and propensity to shout at his staff. In May 2009, after his appointment as premier, service-delivery protests flared in Mpumalanga. Seven local municipalities were affected, including Thaba Chweu in Mashishing (formerly Lydenburg), Mkhondo in Piet Retief, Pixley ka Seme in Volksrust, Emalahleni in Emalahleni (formerly Witbank), Mbombela, Lekwa in Standerton and Dipaliseng in Balfour.
In most areas the protests turned violent with government buildings being razed and police firing rubber bullets at crowds. At the height of the protests, Mabuza's close ally, Raymond Makamo, accused ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa of being part of a plot to oust Mabuza by "funding and fuelling" the protests. Phosa is suing Makamo, the Mpumalanga secretary of the SA National Civics Organisation, for R1-million in damages for this. In September last year, a group of disgruntled ANC members organised a press conference to discuss the removal of Mabuza as provincial chairman. The press conference was cancelled at the last minute after some members - claiming to have received threatening phone calls - decided not to attend. The group later wrote to Zuma, asking him to remove Mabuza as premier. "Mr President, may you please relieve our Premier of his duties if you want to see progress in the province," the letter read.
The letter went on to accuse Mabuza of a litany of irregularities while he was MEC for three departments - education, agriculture, and roads and transport. It also accused him of buying cars for local journalists in return for their writing positive stories about him. His spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". Nonetheless, in 1998 Mabuza was forced to resign as MEC for education after a forensic investigation found his department had inflated the province's matric pass rate from 46% to 72.5%. About 7000 pupils who had been told they had "passed" their exams were later told they had failed.
Early last year, former provincial ANC Youth League secretary James Nkambule claimed that Mabuza had paid R400000 towards Zuma' s wedding in 2008. Nkambule made the claim in a letter to ANC secretary- general Gwede Mantashe, in which he accused Mabuza of having used his financial position to land the position as premier. N either Zuma nor Mabuza's offices have disputed the payment.
Source: Times Live
Senior policeman's startling admission: Arrest was political
There is mounting evidence that political pressure lay behind the arrest this week of Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika, despite furious denials from police top brass. A senior police official close to the case admitted yesterday that police were feeling the heat from ANC politicians to crack down on wa Afrika, because of his reporting. "Ja - it's political pressure," he told the Sunday Times.
Yesterday, Mabutho Sithole, a spokesman for Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza, confirmed the premier had laid the initial complaint, at the Kabokweni police station in Nelspruit, which culminated in wa Afrika's arrest. Mabuza, a controversial figure in Mpumalanga, has been the subject of various articles in the Sunday Times and other publications.
The complaint was sparked by a letter faxed to the Sunday Times, in which Mabuza supposedly states his intention to resign as premier. Mabuza insisted the letter was a forgery and that he had no intention of resigning. "He (Mabuza) complained to the police here at Kabokweni after we got a copy of the letter and received information that there were people in possession of a letter bearing his name and signature," said Sithole.
Wa Afrika was arrested at 11.15am on Wednesday outside the Sunday Times building in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Minutes earlier Sunday Times lawyer Renier Spies had been negotiating with Kabokweni station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Mabasa at Rosebank police station not to arrest wa Afrika at his office, but rather to allow the journalist to hand himself over at the station. "In the meantime (Mabasa) contacted a 'general' whose further particulars are unknown to me, via his cellphone," said Spies. "According to (Mabasa), the general he spoke to was on his way to the station and wanted to join us." Minutes later, several police vehicles with sirens blaring pulled up alongside wa Afrika outside the Sunday Times building while he was walking to the police station. Police bundled him into an unmarked vehicle and drove off at high speed.
At 7pm on Thursday night, the Sunday Times went to the High Court in Pretoria to bring an urgent application for wa Afrika's release. Just before 10pm, acting Judge Johan Kruger ordered his immediate release following an agreement with the state. Wa Afrika was released at 10:30pm on Thursday night. He appeared in Nelspruit Regional Court on Friday on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering. He was released on bail of R5000 and is scheduled to appear again on November 8.
Spies said he was convinced there was "political pressure on (Mabasa) to effect an arrest". This is borne out by the line of questioning police adopted when interrogating wa Afrika and fellow suspect Victor Mlimi, a senior provincial government official, at the Nelspruit office of the police's provincial Organised Crime Unit on Thursday. "I was asked whether I was directly or indirectly involved in discrediting senior ANC office bearers in Mpumalanga," said wa Afrika. "That made me wonder whether the police were investigating a criminal or a political case. "They also wanted to know who are the big politicians I'm working with behind the scenes. This made me conclude the police were sent by politicians to harass and intimidate me."
Mlimi's lawyer, Daniel Mabunda, said his client was questioned for two hours about the ANC's provincial leadership succession battles, and which political camp he supported. "I was present when my client was asked, Are you destroying the image and integrity of the ANC in Mpumalanga? I advised my client not to answer that question. It struck me that this has more to do with politics than a criminal case."
The day before the arrest, police chief General Bheki Cele had referred to wa Afrika as a "shady journalist", in response to an article he co-authored about the police chief's involvement in clinching a R500-million lease agreement, without going to tender, with billionaire businessman Roux Shabangu. The vigour police used to pursue wa Afrika also raised eyebrows. The case was opened at Kabokweni police station on Monday and wa Afrika was arrested two days later. Police have yet to arrest anyone connected to the deaths of Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala and provincial arts and culture spokesman Sammy Mpatlanyane - both of whom appeared on an alleged hit list that emerged last year . Mohlala was gunned down outside his house by three masked men in January 2009 in Kanyamazane township outside Nelspruit. Mpatlanyane was shot in his Nelspruit home in January 2010. "Those murders are still under investigation," Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi told the Sunday Times yesterday.
The visible lack of progress in these cases contrasts with the swift action taken against wa Afrika, one of the journalists who exposed the alleged hit list. Cele's spokesman, Nonkululeko Mbatha, told the Sunday Times yesterday "the semblance and impressions you have are not factual". "Police have instituted a probe which is ongoing and appealed to members of the public who might have information ... to come to the fore." Asked about the negative impression created by the police's heavy-handed action against wa Afrika, she said: "I cannot undo that impression but the fact of the matter is no one is immune from investigation of what is suspicious of criminal nature. Lastly, insinuations about a directive issued by the general (Cele) to apprehend or intimidate the journalist are incorrect and a figment of imagination."
Mabuza's spokesman also denied exerting any political pressure on police, or that the arrest was an attempt to intimidate wa Afrika and derail his investigative reporting on the murders.
Source: Times Live
Yesterday, Mabutho Sithole, a spokesman for Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza, confirmed the premier had laid the initial complaint, at the Kabokweni police station in Nelspruit, which culminated in wa Afrika's arrest. Mabuza, a controversial figure in Mpumalanga, has been the subject of various articles in the Sunday Times and other publications.
The complaint was sparked by a letter faxed to the Sunday Times, in which Mabuza supposedly states his intention to resign as premier. Mabuza insisted the letter was a forgery and that he had no intention of resigning. "He (Mabuza) complained to the police here at Kabokweni after we got a copy of the letter and received information that there were people in possession of a letter bearing his name and signature," said Sithole.
Wa Afrika was arrested at 11.15am on Wednesday outside the Sunday Times building in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Minutes earlier Sunday Times lawyer Renier Spies had been negotiating with Kabokweni station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Mabasa at Rosebank police station not to arrest wa Afrika at his office, but rather to allow the journalist to hand himself over at the station. "In the meantime (Mabasa) contacted a 'general' whose further particulars are unknown to me, via his cellphone," said Spies. "According to (Mabasa), the general he spoke to was on his way to the station and wanted to join us." Minutes later, several police vehicles with sirens blaring pulled up alongside wa Afrika outside the Sunday Times building while he was walking to the police station. Police bundled him into an unmarked vehicle and drove off at high speed.
At 7pm on Thursday night, the Sunday Times went to the High Court in Pretoria to bring an urgent application for wa Afrika's release. Just before 10pm, acting Judge Johan Kruger ordered his immediate release following an agreement with the state. Wa Afrika was released at 10:30pm on Thursday night. He appeared in Nelspruit Regional Court on Friday on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering. He was released on bail of R5000 and is scheduled to appear again on November 8.
Spies said he was convinced there was "political pressure on (Mabasa) to effect an arrest". This is borne out by the line of questioning police adopted when interrogating wa Afrika and fellow suspect Victor Mlimi, a senior provincial government official, at the Nelspruit office of the police's provincial Organised Crime Unit on Thursday. "I was asked whether I was directly or indirectly involved in discrediting senior ANC office bearers in Mpumalanga," said wa Afrika. "That made me wonder whether the police were investigating a criminal or a political case. "They also wanted to know who are the big politicians I'm working with behind the scenes. This made me conclude the police were sent by politicians to harass and intimidate me."
Mlimi's lawyer, Daniel Mabunda, said his client was questioned for two hours about the ANC's provincial leadership succession battles, and which political camp he supported. "I was present when my client was asked, Are you destroying the image and integrity of the ANC in Mpumalanga? I advised my client not to answer that question. It struck me that this has more to do with politics than a criminal case."
The day before the arrest, police chief General Bheki Cele had referred to wa Afrika as a "shady journalist", in response to an article he co-authored about the police chief's involvement in clinching a R500-million lease agreement, without going to tender, with billionaire businessman Roux Shabangu. The vigour police used to pursue wa Afrika also raised eyebrows. The case was opened at Kabokweni police station on Monday and wa Afrika was arrested two days later. Police have yet to arrest anyone connected to the deaths of Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala and provincial arts and culture spokesman Sammy Mpatlanyane - both of whom appeared on an alleged hit list that emerged last year . Mohlala was gunned down outside his house by three masked men in January 2009 in Kanyamazane township outside Nelspruit. Mpatlanyane was shot in his Nelspruit home in January 2010. "Those murders are still under investigation," Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi told the Sunday Times yesterday.
The visible lack of progress in these cases contrasts with the swift action taken against wa Afrika, one of the journalists who exposed the alleged hit list. Cele's spokesman, Nonkululeko Mbatha, told the Sunday Times yesterday "the semblance and impressions you have are not factual". "Police have instituted a probe which is ongoing and appealed to members of the public who might have information ... to come to the fore." Asked about the negative impression created by the police's heavy-handed action against wa Afrika, she said: "I cannot undo that impression but the fact of the matter is no one is immune from investigation of what is suspicious of criminal nature. Lastly, insinuations about a directive issued by the general (Cele) to apprehend or intimidate the journalist are incorrect and a figment of imagination."
Mabuza's spokesman also denied exerting any political pressure on police, or that the arrest was an attempt to intimidate wa Afrika and derail his investigative reporting on the murders.
Source: Times Live
Intelligence agencies monitored Mpumalanga 'troublemakers'
MPUMALANGA Premier David Mabuza refuses to say whether he has used surveillance or intelligence agents to monitor journalists or political opponents.
Mabuza has, however, previously told an April 15 press conference that he routinely monitors "troublemakers" in the province, via weekly intelligence reports containing classified information, including surveillance records of people perceived to be a threat to the stability of his administration.
He boasted at the time that nothing happened in the province without him being aware of it -- but, in the wake of international condemnation of the arrest of Sunday Times investigative journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika, Mabuza refused to either confirm or deny this week whether provincial intelligence authorities had included journalists in their surveillance.
Mabuza was not so coy back in April, when he told journalists: "On a daily basis, on a weekly basis I receive reports: intelligence reports with classified information. The reports tell me about your activities [and] about ordinary people doing things. And [the reports] will tell me the names of the people [involved]. They will tell me about threats in the province. It is [the security agency's] responsibility to do that. I mean across the board. "In these service delivery protests, they report who is who. Just for me to know, so I don’t miss the point. Not for me to arrest them. They will tell me [you] are doing one, two, three, four, five. Oh, OK. When I meet you, I will hug you and laugh with you, but I will know: there is something I know about you," Mabuza explained.
When questioned on the legality of monitoring political colleagues or journalists, Mabuza stressed that he merely received the reports. "People are not monitored [directly] by us, but remember that this is not a free-for-all country where you can steal cars, smuggle things, and hope that people will not follow you. As long as the security agencies feel they suspect you, they follow you, and they report where they must report so that you can be arrested or be monitored. It is their duty. "But, for me -- for people who are causing unrest, who are toyi-toying, who [are] saying things -- I must know who is doing what, where. The [security agencies] have a responsibility to tell me. How they do it, how they collect data, it is not my responsibility. I am not going to ask them how they came to this conclusion. Because they are giving me that information not to use, but to know."
Mabuza was then at pains to explain that all surveillance in the province was legal. "Security agencies, they know what to do. They cannot be threatened by you. If they want to listen to your phone, they know what to do. And, they will be granted permission. They must offer reasons why they want to listen to your phone, and a magistrate will give that permission. And that is it. Then you are being listened at. "But on their own, I don’t think that can just listen to your phone. It is a process. If you go to your law, you will find it. It is legislated, because as much as they can listen to your phone, you have got a right as a human being."
Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, confirmed on Thursday that Mabuza had been speaking about the supposed conspiracy involving Wa Afrika and a Mpumalanga deputy director for informal settlements, Victor Mlimi. The two were arrested earlier this week and charged with fraud, forgery, and uttering (to circulate fraudulent items) for being in possession of an allegedly fake letter of resignation purportedly written by Mabuza to President Jacob Zuma.
Mabuza issued a strongly worded press statement shortly after the arrests, claiming Wa Afrika was part of a wider plot to destabilise the province and unseat Mabuza as premier. "Definitely, he was speaking about the same case at that press conference [in April]. It is all linked: this Josh hit-list story, the alleged raid on [Mabuza's] house that never happened, and now the fake resignation letter. We said then that journalists were part of a plot with people who are hell-bent on discrediting the Premier's good name," said Sithole.
Sithole said the allegations, including that Mabuza had an arms cache and millions in cash at his home plus that he'd hired hitmen to murder opponents, were viewed as threats to state security. Sithole also claimed that the violent service delivery riots that have rocked the province for over a year are part of the plot, and are being funded by political opponents. He refused, however, to comment on whether Mabuza had received surveillance reports on journalists who reported on the allegations, or who were perceived to be "part of the plot". "I do not know and I will not ask the Premier, because even if he is receiving such reports, he would not tell me yes or no. He would not be able to divulge in terms of protocol. The content of such reports is classified," Sithole insisted on Thursday. When pressed, Sithole undertook to check with Mabuza. He was, however, still unwilling to confirm or deny on Friday and was consistently unavailable on Saturday.
Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi also refused to comment on whether intelligence agencies had assisted with the investigation, or whether journalists in the province had been under surveillance. "I have not been briefed on that, and am not going to speculate or say anything before the matter is before court. You will have to wait for the court hearing," was Zondi's initial terse response. When pressed for comment again on Saturday, Zondi said: "I can't comment on spying issues. That is outside my scope".
National Intelligence Agency (NIA) spokeswoman, Lorna Daniels, was unavailable on either of her mobile phones on Saturday. Zondi meanwhile also refused to respond to Mabuza's midnight statement on Wednesday, which claimed Wa Afrika's arrest was linked to that of James Nkambule in March.
Nkambule was arrested after admitting to circulating a hit-list of Mpumalanga public figures supposedly drafted by a Mozambican assassin known only as 'Josh'. The list included Mbombela municipality speaker, councillor Jimmy Mohlala, who was executed in front of his family in January 2009 while investigating tender irregularities relating to the Mbombela 2010 stadium. No one has been arrested for the murder. The list also included names of other Mpumalanga officials who had either died or disappeared in questionable circumstances during anti-corruption investigations.
Source: Capital
Mabuza has, however, previously told an April 15 press conference that he routinely monitors "troublemakers" in the province, via weekly intelligence reports containing classified information, including surveillance records of people perceived to be a threat to the stability of his administration.
He boasted at the time that nothing happened in the province without him being aware of it -- but, in the wake of international condemnation of the arrest of Sunday Times investigative journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika, Mabuza refused to either confirm or deny this week whether provincial intelligence authorities had included journalists in their surveillance.
Mabuza was not so coy back in April, when he told journalists: "On a daily basis, on a weekly basis I receive reports: intelligence reports with classified information. The reports tell me about your activities [and] about ordinary people doing things. And [the reports] will tell me the names of the people [involved]. They will tell me about threats in the province. It is [the security agency's] responsibility to do that. I mean across the board. "In these service delivery protests, they report who is who. Just for me to know, so I don’t miss the point. Not for me to arrest them. They will tell me [you] are doing one, two, three, four, five. Oh, OK. When I meet you, I will hug you and laugh with you, but I will know: there is something I know about you," Mabuza explained.
When questioned on the legality of monitoring political colleagues or journalists, Mabuza stressed that he merely received the reports. "People are not monitored [directly] by us, but remember that this is not a free-for-all country where you can steal cars, smuggle things, and hope that people will not follow you. As long as the security agencies feel they suspect you, they follow you, and they report where they must report so that you can be arrested or be monitored. It is their duty. "But, for me -- for people who are causing unrest, who are toyi-toying, who [are] saying things -- I must know who is doing what, where. The [security agencies] have a responsibility to tell me. How they do it, how they collect data, it is not my responsibility. I am not going to ask them how they came to this conclusion. Because they are giving me that information not to use, but to know."
Mabuza was then at pains to explain that all surveillance in the province was legal. "Security agencies, they know what to do. They cannot be threatened by you. If they want to listen to your phone, they know what to do. And, they will be granted permission. They must offer reasons why they want to listen to your phone, and a magistrate will give that permission. And that is it. Then you are being listened at. "But on their own, I don’t think that can just listen to your phone. It is a process. If you go to your law, you will find it. It is legislated, because as much as they can listen to your phone, you have got a right as a human being."
Mabuza's spokesman, Mabutho Sithole, confirmed on Thursday that Mabuza had been speaking about the supposed conspiracy involving Wa Afrika and a Mpumalanga deputy director for informal settlements, Victor Mlimi. The two were arrested earlier this week and charged with fraud, forgery, and uttering (to circulate fraudulent items) for being in possession of an allegedly fake letter of resignation purportedly written by Mabuza to President Jacob Zuma.
Mabuza issued a strongly worded press statement shortly after the arrests, claiming Wa Afrika was part of a wider plot to destabilise the province and unseat Mabuza as premier. "Definitely, he was speaking about the same case at that press conference [in April]. It is all linked: this Josh hit-list story, the alleged raid on [Mabuza's] house that never happened, and now the fake resignation letter. We said then that journalists were part of a plot with people who are hell-bent on discrediting the Premier's good name," said Sithole.
Sithole said the allegations, including that Mabuza had an arms cache and millions in cash at his home plus that he'd hired hitmen to murder opponents, were viewed as threats to state security. Sithole also claimed that the violent service delivery riots that have rocked the province for over a year are part of the plot, and are being funded by political opponents. He refused, however, to comment on whether Mabuza had received surveillance reports on journalists who reported on the allegations, or who were perceived to be "part of the plot". "I do not know and I will not ask the Premier, because even if he is receiving such reports, he would not tell me yes or no. He would not be able to divulge in terms of protocol. The content of such reports is classified," Sithole insisted on Thursday. When pressed, Sithole undertook to check with Mabuza. He was, however, still unwilling to confirm or deny on Friday and was consistently unavailable on Saturday.
Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi also refused to comment on whether intelligence agencies had assisted with the investigation, or whether journalists in the province had been under surveillance. "I have not been briefed on that, and am not going to speculate or say anything before the matter is before court. You will have to wait for the court hearing," was Zondi's initial terse response. When pressed for comment again on Saturday, Zondi said: "I can't comment on spying issues. That is outside my scope".
National Intelligence Agency (NIA) spokeswoman, Lorna Daniels, was unavailable on either of her mobile phones on Saturday. Zondi meanwhile also refused to respond to Mabuza's midnight statement on Wednesday, which claimed Wa Afrika's arrest was linked to that of James Nkambule in March.
Nkambule was arrested after admitting to circulating a hit-list of Mpumalanga public figures supposedly drafted by a Mozambican assassin known only as 'Josh'. The list included Mbombela municipality speaker, councillor Jimmy Mohlala, who was executed in front of his family in January 2009 while investigating tender irregularities relating to the Mbombela 2010 stadium. No one has been arrested for the murder. The list also included names of other Mpumalanga officials who had either died or disappeared in questionable circumstances during anti-corruption investigations.
Source: Capital
Arrested journo fears for safety of news sources
INVESTIGATIVE journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika fears that his confidential sources may be in danger after Hawks investigators seized 11 years' worth of reporter notebooks and research documents. The boxes of documents were seized from his Johannesburg home immediately after his arrest on Wednesday morning, when plain-clothes investigators combed through his house without a search warrant. “The notebooks they took have nothing to do with the fake letter issue. The notebooks date back more than 11 years, to when I still worked for African Eye News Service in Nelspruit. They contain detailed notes on all the investigations I have done over the years," said Wa Afrika. "I am really concerned that they will use the notebooks to trace and intimidate sources or even people who have spoken to me in their official capacity over the years. It feels like a witch-hunt."
Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi initially insisted on Thursday evening that investigators had used a warrant to seize the notebooks, but conceded late on Thursday night that police had neglected to obtain court sanction for the search. "The original arrangement was for Mzilikazi to voluntarily surrender to investigators, so we did not need a warrant. But, plans changed, and we arrested him instead. There is, however, allowance in the Criminal Procedure Act for search and seizure without a warrant," Zondi explained. He was unable to say why plans changed, but did confirm that the confiscated notebooks had been handed over to police in Mpumalanga itself for "further investigation". "I cannot speak about the scope of the investigation, but it definitely does not stretch back 11 years. As a former journalist I can see where you are going [with questions about the safety of the notebooks]. I cannot comment. I am stumped," said Zondi.
In addition to the notebooks, Hawks investigators carted off scores of personal records and documents, as well as work-related research notes connected with the Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency (MTPA) and an old public commission report into the apartheid military's secret activities -- plus his teenage son's laptop. “I don't have a clue what they would want with my son's laptop. The other documents are also completely unrelated to the fake letter issue,” said Wa Afrika.
The 'fake' letter at the apparent root of the drama is a supposedly fraudulent resignation letter, on an official Mpumalanga government letterhead, from Premier David Mabuza to President Jacob Zuma. Mabuza issued a statement shortly after Wa Afrika's arrest claiming that the journalist was part of a wider plot to destabilise the province. Wa Afrika and his lawyers are, however, still unclear exactly what the charges against him are. Although he appeared briefly in the Nelspruit regional court on Friday morning for a bail application, the Hawks have yet to release the detailed charge sheet or any other information about his supposed criminal conduct.
Wa Afrika was initially said to be facing charges for fraud and defeating the ends of justice. But, two hours after he was released on R5,000 bail, the charges were amended to fraud, forgery, and 'uttering' (which means the attempt to pass off something fake as genuine). "We've asked for the charge sheet, so we can understand what exactly he is accused of, but I have yet to receive it," says the Sunday Times attorney Eric van den Berg. Wa Afrika also reports that while in detention he was woken at 2am and interrogated by about whether he was part of a group or faction trying to destabilise the African National Congress (ANC) in Mpumalanga. "I wasn't asked about destabilising the provincial government or the country. I was asked about destabilising the ruling party," he says.
South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) media freedom spokesman Raymond Louw said on Friday that confiscation of any reporters' notebooks or confidential research notes by police was a “serious transgression” of their rights and needed to be challenged. “It looks like a fishing expedition. Unfortunately there is little SANEF can do right now about Mzilikazi's situation, until our meeting with national Police Commissioner Bheki Cele on Tuesday. We will definitely raise the issue of the notebooks with Cele,” said Louw.
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) also expressed outrage on Friday, saying police had no right to seize notebooks or records that do not directly relate to the charges against Wa Afrika. "We strongly advise Mzilikazi and his attorneys to argue that the search and seizure at his house was illegal, especially if the notebooks have nothing to do with this case,” said FXI attorney and media freedom expert, Mbali Cele.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga, however, insisted on Friday that investigators have prima facie evidence to substantiate the Hawks actions. “We have overwhelming evidence against the accused. The reason we did not oppose their bail application though, is because we do need additional time to gather more evidence,” said Mhaga.
Wa Afrika and a deputy director in Mpumalanga's housing department, Victor Mlimi, were both released on R5,000 bail each and told to return to court on November 8. A third suspect who was arrested with Mlimi on Tuesday afternoon, an unnamed teacher at Mganduzweni Primary School near White River, was released without being charged after being questioned by police. She was originally accused of faxing the fake letter to various journalists, including Wa Afrika, and President Zuma's office.
Mlimi has also not yet received a copy of the detailed charge sheet. Premier Mabuza's spokesman Mabutho Sithole, who camped out at court both on Thursday and Friday, continues to insist that the two are pawns for "powerful people" who are bankrolling a plot to oust Mabuza from office. Sithole insists that the case extends beyond the resignation letter: he claims that the recent arrests are linked to the arrest of former ANC Youth league leader and current regional COPE chairman, James Nkambule, on March 25.
Nkambule was charged for fraud and defeating the ends of justice for allegedly fabricating and circulating a supposed hit-list of prominent public figures, including the assassinated speaker of the Mbombela Local Municipality, Jimmy Mohlala. Mohlala was executed in front his teenage son in January 2009 one day before he was scheduled to speak publicly about suspected tender irregularities relating to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Stadium in Mbombela. Nkambule insists that the hit-list and an accompanying affidavit were written by a Mozambican hitman, identified only as 'Josh', after his Mpumalanga paymasters tried to kill him.
Wa Afrika was one of a number of journalists who wrote about the allegations, and about Nkambule's subsequent arrest. Nkambule is currently on R8,000 bail awaiting trial on October 14.
Source: Capital
Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi initially insisted on Thursday evening that investigators had used a warrant to seize the notebooks, but conceded late on Thursday night that police had neglected to obtain court sanction for the search. "The original arrangement was for Mzilikazi to voluntarily surrender to investigators, so we did not need a warrant. But, plans changed, and we arrested him instead. There is, however, allowance in the Criminal Procedure Act for search and seizure without a warrant," Zondi explained. He was unable to say why plans changed, but did confirm that the confiscated notebooks had been handed over to police in Mpumalanga itself for "further investigation". "I cannot speak about the scope of the investigation, but it definitely does not stretch back 11 years. As a former journalist I can see where you are going [with questions about the safety of the notebooks]. I cannot comment. I am stumped," said Zondi.
In addition to the notebooks, Hawks investigators carted off scores of personal records and documents, as well as work-related research notes connected with the Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency (MTPA) and an old public commission report into the apartheid military's secret activities -- plus his teenage son's laptop. “I don't have a clue what they would want with my son's laptop. The other documents are also completely unrelated to the fake letter issue,” said Wa Afrika.
The 'fake' letter at the apparent root of the drama is a supposedly fraudulent resignation letter, on an official Mpumalanga government letterhead, from Premier David Mabuza to President Jacob Zuma. Mabuza issued a statement shortly after Wa Afrika's arrest claiming that the journalist was part of a wider plot to destabilise the province. Wa Afrika and his lawyers are, however, still unclear exactly what the charges against him are. Although he appeared briefly in the Nelspruit regional court on Friday morning for a bail application, the Hawks have yet to release the detailed charge sheet or any other information about his supposed criminal conduct.
Wa Afrika was initially said to be facing charges for fraud and defeating the ends of justice. But, two hours after he was released on R5,000 bail, the charges were amended to fraud, forgery, and 'uttering' (which means the attempt to pass off something fake as genuine). "We've asked for the charge sheet, so we can understand what exactly he is accused of, but I have yet to receive it," says the Sunday Times attorney Eric van den Berg. Wa Afrika also reports that while in detention he was woken at 2am and interrogated by about whether he was part of a group or faction trying to destabilise the African National Congress (ANC) in Mpumalanga. "I wasn't asked about destabilising the provincial government or the country. I was asked about destabilising the ruling party," he says.
South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) media freedom spokesman Raymond Louw said on Friday that confiscation of any reporters' notebooks or confidential research notes by police was a “serious transgression” of their rights and needed to be challenged. “It looks like a fishing expedition. Unfortunately there is little SANEF can do right now about Mzilikazi's situation, until our meeting with national Police Commissioner Bheki Cele on Tuesday. We will definitely raise the issue of the notebooks with Cele,” said Louw.
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) also expressed outrage on Friday, saying police had no right to seize notebooks or records that do not directly relate to the charges against Wa Afrika. "We strongly advise Mzilikazi and his attorneys to argue that the search and seizure at his house was illegal, especially if the notebooks have nothing to do with this case,” said FXI attorney and media freedom expert, Mbali Cele.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga, however, insisted on Friday that investigators have prima facie evidence to substantiate the Hawks actions. “We have overwhelming evidence against the accused. The reason we did not oppose their bail application though, is because we do need additional time to gather more evidence,” said Mhaga.
Wa Afrika and a deputy director in Mpumalanga's housing department, Victor Mlimi, were both released on R5,000 bail each and told to return to court on November 8. A third suspect who was arrested with Mlimi on Tuesday afternoon, an unnamed teacher at Mganduzweni Primary School near White River, was released without being charged after being questioned by police. She was originally accused of faxing the fake letter to various journalists, including Wa Afrika, and President Zuma's office.
Mlimi has also not yet received a copy of the detailed charge sheet. Premier Mabuza's spokesman Mabutho Sithole, who camped out at court both on Thursday and Friday, continues to insist that the two are pawns for "powerful people" who are bankrolling a plot to oust Mabuza from office. Sithole insists that the case extends beyond the resignation letter: he claims that the recent arrests are linked to the arrest of former ANC Youth league leader and current regional COPE chairman, James Nkambule, on March 25.
Nkambule was charged for fraud and defeating the ends of justice for allegedly fabricating and circulating a supposed hit-list of prominent public figures, including the assassinated speaker of the Mbombela Local Municipality, Jimmy Mohlala. Mohlala was executed in front his teenage son in January 2009 one day before he was scheduled to speak publicly about suspected tender irregularities relating to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Stadium in Mbombela. Nkambule insists that the hit-list and an accompanying affidavit were written by a Mozambican hitman, identified only as 'Josh', after his Mpumalanga paymasters tried to kill him.
Wa Afrika was one of a number of journalists who wrote about the allegations, and about Nkambule's subsequent arrest. Nkambule is currently on R8,000 bail awaiting trial on October 14.
Source: Capital
Sunday, April 25, 2010
New development in Mpumalanga killings
A Pretoria High Court judge has obtained an affidavit from the Mozambican hitman who was allegedly hired to kill Mbombela municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala in January last year.
Mohlala was a whistle-blower on the alleged tender corruption involving the building of the R2-billion Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
The judge, who cannot be named for his safety, met with the alleged hitman known as ''Josh" in the underworld at the Nerston border post near Piet Retief on Thursday. The border post is between South Africa and Swaziland. Josh, wearing a black tracksuit and white sneakers, made a 15-page hand-written confession before the judge. In the confession, Josh claimed that he had been hired by a senior Mpumalanga politician, a soccer boss and two businessmen. The self-confessed killer's meeting with the judge was witnessed by seven other senior government officials from the Justice Department and police.
The judge will now prepare the statement and submit it to police commissioner General Bheki Cele this week. Cele will then decide when to make an arrest and who must be arrested. Josh was initially telephonically interviewed by senior officials in Cele's office last month. Josh claimed that he and another hitman were responsible for the murder of former defence secretary January "Che" Masilela and made his death appear to have resulted from a car accident. Masilela died near Bronkhorst-spruit in August 2008 after he lost control of his BMW X5. The car caught fire and Masilela was burnt beyond recognition.
Cele yesterday declined to comment on the latest police breakthrough, including developments surrounding the confession made by Josh, saying the matter was at a "sensitive stage". Cele said: "I'd rather not comment on the matter."
Meanwhile, Mohlala's wife, Bonny, yesterday confirmed that she was suing police for R300000 for wrongful arrest and assault. She filed the lawsuit after police allegedly took her and her two children to the bush near KaNyamazane, outside Nelspruit, where they were allegedly tortured. She claims that police tried to force her and her children to make a false confession that they were involved in her husband's murder.
Source: Times Live
Mohlala was a whistle-blower on the alleged tender corruption involving the building of the R2-billion Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
The judge, who cannot be named for his safety, met with the alleged hitman known as ''Josh" in the underworld at the Nerston border post near Piet Retief on Thursday. The border post is between South Africa and Swaziland. Josh, wearing a black tracksuit and white sneakers, made a 15-page hand-written confession before the judge. In the confession, Josh claimed that he had been hired by a senior Mpumalanga politician, a soccer boss and two businessmen. The self-confessed killer's meeting with the judge was witnessed by seven other senior government officials from the Justice Department and police.
The judge will now prepare the statement and submit it to police commissioner General Bheki Cele this week. Cele will then decide when to make an arrest and who must be arrested. Josh was initially telephonically interviewed by senior officials in Cele's office last month. Josh claimed that he and another hitman were responsible for the murder of former defence secretary January "Che" Masilela and made his death appear to have resulted from a car accident. Masilela died near Bronkhorst-spruit in August 2008 after he lost control of his BMW X5. The car caught fire and Masilela was burnt beyond recognition.
Cele yesterday declined to comment on the latest police breakthrough, including developments surrounding the confession made by Josh, saying the matter was at a "sensitive stage". Cele said: "I'd rather not comment on the matter."
Meanwhile, Mohlala's wife, Bonny, yesterday confirmed that she was suing police for R300000 for wrongful arrest and assault. She filed the lawsuit after police allegedly took her and her two children to the bush near KaNyamazane, outside Nelspruit, where they were allegedly tortured. She claims that police tried to force her and her children to make a false confession that they were involved in her husband's murder.
Source: Times Live
Friday, March 26, 2010
Mayor refuses to leave quietly
Mbombela local municipality mayor Lassy Chiwayo has accused ANC members of orchestrating his removal for refusing to hire their relatives and drop charges against former Mbombela municipal manager Jacob Dladla, who was dismissed late last year. Chiwayo was speaking to journalists during a press conference yesterday after the Ehlanzeni regional executive council announced its recommendation to recall him as mayor on Wednesday. "There are senior ANC members who sit in the provincial executive committee (PEC) who warned me that I will be removed if I don't follow their instructions. Similar threats also came from the regional executive council (REC), who wanted me to appoint certain individuals," said Chiwayo.
He said the REC's secretary, Pat Ngomane, deputy chairman Peter Nyoni and regional working committee member Bheki Zulu were behind the calls to remove him. "These three comrades told me that I should restructure my entire mayoral committee, remove the deputy mayor (Nackie Ndlovu) and replace her with Nyoni's wife (Jester Sidel)," he said.
Chiwayo said he was also instructed at PEC level to sweep the Dladla matter under the carpet. He repeated that slain Mbombela Speaker Jimmy Mohlala was "executed" days before testifying in the disciplinary hearings against Dladla, who had a string of charges laid against him, and said it was clear that Dladla had been placed at Mbombela to become a "channel for looting". Chiwayo specifically mentioned that he had received "strict instructions" to suspend all disciplinary actions against Dladla. "I was warned that I will be removed as mayor if I don't suspended the disciplinary action. I refused and when he was found guilty and dismissed I was given instruction to either reinstate him or give him a golden handshake," he said.
Chiwayo said Mpumalanga's status as a 2010 World Cup host province had "erupted into chaos" and become "a curse to its own people". "The opportunity to host the 2010 World Cup is an international gift that was aimed at unifying our people, but now it has become a curse because of greed and power-mongering," said Chiwayo. "We have people dying on Mbombela soil because of tenders. It's as if there's an evil force that is thirsty for blood, a devil that has become a challenge for us to fight. These people decide who gets employed, where a tender should go and, if you defy them, you become a target." Chiwayo revealed that he had written a detailed report to the ANC, the national government and the National Intelligence Agency about the "power madness" in Mpumalanga.
Provincial secretary Lucky Ndinisa said the REC's recommendation had not yet been tabled. "That recommendation does not stand as a decision of the PEC. It will come to the PEC and we will look at it. As far as we are concerned, comrade Chiwayo remains Nelspruit's mayor," said Ndinisa.
Source: The Star
He said the REC's secretary, Pat Ngomane, deputy chairman Peter Nyoni and regional working committee member Bheki Zulu were behind the calls to remove him. "These three comrades told me that I should restructure my entire mayoral committee, remove the deputy mayor (Nackie Ndlovu) and replace her with Nyoni's wife (Jester Sidel)," he said.
Chiwayo said he was also instructed at PEC level to sweep the Dladla matter under the carpet. He repeated that slain Mbombela Speaker Jimmy Mohlala was "executed" days before testifying in the disciplinary hearings against Dladla, who had a string of charges laid against him, and said it was clear that Dladla had been placed at Mbombela to become a "channel for looting". Chiwayo specifically mentioned that he had received "strict instructions" to suspend all disciplinary actions against Dladla. "I was warned that I will be removed as mayor if I don't suspended the disciplinary action. I refused and when he was found guilty and dismissed I was given instruction to either reinstate him or give him a golden handshake," he said.
Chiwayo said Mpumalanga's status as a 2010 World Cup host province had "erupted into chaos" and become "a curse to its own people". "The opportunity to host the 2010 World Cup is an international gift that was aimed at unifying our people, but now it has become a curse because of greed and power-mongering," said Chiwayo. "We have people dying on Mbombela soil because of tenders. It's as if there's an evil force that is thirsty for blood, a devil that has become a challenge for us to fight. These people decide who gets employed, where a tender should go and, if you defy them, you become a target." Chiwayo revealed that he had written a detailed report to the ANC, the national government and the National Intelligence Agency about the "power madness" in Mpumalanga.
Provincial secretary Lucky Ndinisa said the REC's recommendation had not yet been tabled. "That recommendation does not stand as a decision of the PEC. It will come to the PEC and we will look at it. As far as we are concerned, comrade Chiwayo remains Nelspruit's mayor," said Ndinisa.
Source: The Star
Friday, March 12, 2010
Cost of Stadium Reveals Tensions in South Africa
Come June, soccer’s World Cup will be hosted by South Africa. Though only 4 of the 64 games are to be played here in Nelspruit, a $137 million stadium was built for the occasion. The arena’s 18 supporting pylons reach skyward in the shape of orange giraffes. At nightfall, their eyeballs blink with flashes of bewitching light.
The people who live nearby, proud as they are to host soccer’s greatest event, also wonder: How could there be money for a 46,000-seat stadium while many of them still fetch water from dirty puddles and live without electricity or toilets?
The 2010 World Cup is meant to display South Africa at its very best: a modern, prosperous nation friendly to commerce, tourists and democratic ideals. This is the first time the event will be held in Africa, and it was buoyantly suggested by the former President Thabo Mbeki that the competition was a milestone for the entire continent, “sending ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo.”
Such boasts may well turn out to be true, for South Africa has spent more than $6 billion on stadiums, roads, airports and other projects. But Nelspruit, in preparing for its own six hours of championship soccer, is instead an example of the nation at its worst, with distressing inequality — measured by some economists as the worst in the world — and an epidemic of local corruption that often leads the downtrodden to rise up in anger.
Simon Magagula lives in a mud house accessible by a dirt road whose cavities deepen with each rainfall. His doorway is a short jaunt to the new stadium. “Those who’ll benefit from this are the wealthy that already have plenty in their hand,” he said, not in resentment so much as weariness. And indeed, with the stadium project came an infusion of money, catnip to the corrupt who congregate at the junction of money and power. “No point in trying to hide it, there was a total collapse of good governance, primarily around the World Cup,” said Lassy Chiwayo, Nelspruit’s mayor, who was installed as an emergency caretaker in late 2008 after his predecessor was removed.
Independent investigators into the matter found that millions of dollars had been misspent on big contracts. Their final report calls for criminal charges against the former municipal manager and the directors of three companies managing the stadium project.
The Nelspruit area, which lies in the country’s east and has a population of 600,000, has been home to a long feud between rival members of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress. The antagonists want a bigger share of patronage and other spoils. Killings seem to have been used as a tactic. In the past month, three supposed hit lists landed in South African newspapers. One includes people to be shot, another those to be poisoned. The Sunday Times recently quoted a repentant Mozambican assassin who asserted that he was hired by top-level politicians and businessmen to kill their adversaries, describing his profession as the work of a “cleaner.”
Mayor Chiwayo appears on each list, and while he said he was unsure if any of the threats were genuine, he noted that several designees had died suspiciously. “I’m afraid mindless greed has eaten into the soul of the A.N.C.,” he said of his own party. In January 2009, the speaker of the municipal assembly, Jimmy Mohlala, was gunned down in front of his house. He had gathered evidence about stadium deals and declared that he was ready to name names and shame the shameless. This past January, another man on the lists, Sammy Mpatlanyane, the deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation, was shot as he lay in bed. He was “a very influential decision maker,” the mayor said.
When it comes to the World Cup, Nelspruit, well known as a gateway to Kruger National Park, seems to put its worst foot forward repeatedly. The acquisition of the stadium site itself seemed nefarious. The municipality persuaded the trustees of a huge tract of ancestral land to sell 173 acres for 1 rand, or 13 cents. Those intended to benefit from the trust objected, and a judge canceled the deal, likening it to when colonial powers robbed the naïve in return for “buttons and shiny mirrors.” The eventual price was about $1 million. “There has been nothing but duplicity, double dealings and double agendas,” said Richard Spoor, the lawyer who handled the case. “And what will we have after the World Cup is played? There’s no team to occupy the stadium. It will be a white elephant. Politicians will use it to make speeches.”
Two schools — John Mdluli Primary School and Cyril Clark High School — sat on the purchased land. They were bulldozed in 2007, and the students were transferred to hot and airless prefabricated classrooms. Parents and their children repeatedly staged protests. They blocked streets, burned tires and once even torched a police car. The police dispersed them with rubber bullets. This year construction began to replace the demolished schools. “The school problem made us furious, that and the need for jobs,” said Mr. Magagula, who lives near the new arena. “Some people were hired to work on the stadium, but not enough. We’ve been promised a better life, but look how we live. If you pour water into a glass, you can see things moving inside.” And yet he loves soccer, the favorite sport of black South Africans. He cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. He could afford only one ticket for one game, an $18 seat specially priced for the country’s residents.
Nelspruit is one of five cities to get new stadiums, including some arenas that are quite spectacular. It will host Honduras versus Chile; Italy versus New Zealand; Australia versus Serbia; North Korea versus Ivory Coast. “I chose the Italians,” Mr. Magagula said proudly. “I don’t really care who wins. But whatever happens, I’ll never forget it.”
Source: New York Times
The people who live nearby, proud as they are to host soccer’s greatest event, also wonder: How could there be money for a 46,000-seat stadium while many of them still fetch water from dirty puddles and live without electricity or toilets?
The 2010 World Cup is meant to display South Africa at its very best: a modern, prosperous nation friendly to commerce, tourists and democratic ideals. This is the first time the event will be held in Africa, and it was buoyantly suggested by the former President Thabo Mbeki that the competition was a milestone for the entire continent, “sending ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo.”
Such boasts may well turn out to be true, for South Africa has spent more than $6 billion on stadiums, roads, airports and other projects. But Nelspruit, in preparing for its own six hours of championship soccer, is instead an example of the nation at its worst, with distressing inequality — measured by some economists as the worst in the world — and an epidemic of local corruption that often leads the downtrodden to rise up in anger.
Simon Magagula lives in a mud house accessible by a dirt road whose cavities deepen with each rainfall. His doorway is a short jaunt to the new stadium. “Those who’ll benefit from this are the wealthy that already have plenty in their hand,” he said, not in resentment so much as weariness. And indeed, with the stadium project came an infusion of money, catnip to the corrupt who congregate at the junction of money and power. “No point in trying to hide it, there was a total collapse of good governance, primarily around the World Cup,” said Lassy Chiwayo, Nelspruit’s mayor, who was installed as an emergency caretaker in late 2008 after his predecessor was removed.
Independent investigators into the matter found that millions of dollars had been misspent on big contracts. Their final report calls for criminal charges against the former municipal manager and the directors of three companies managing the stadium project.
The Nelspruit area, which lies in the country’s east and has a population of 600,000, has been home to a long feud between rival members of South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress. The antagonists want a bigger share of patronage and other spoils. Killings seem to have been used as a tactic. In the past month, three supposed hit lists landed in South African newspapers. One includes people to be shot, another those to be poisoned. The Sunday Times recently quoted a repentant Mozambican assassin who asserted that he was hired by top-level politicians and businessmen to kill their adversaries, describing his profession as the work of a “cleaner.”
Mayor Chiwayo appears on each list, and while he said he was unsure if any of the threats were genuine, he noted that several designees had died suspiciously. “I’m afraid mindless greed has eaten into the soul of the A.N.C.,” he said of his own party. In January 2009, the speaker of the municipal assembly, Jimmy Mohlala, was gunned down in front of his house. He had gathered evidence about stadium deals and declared that he was ready to name names and shame the shameless. This past January, another man on the lists, Sammy Mpatlanyane, the deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation, was shot as he lay in bed. He was “a very influential decision maker,” the mayor said.
When it comes to the World Cup, Nelspruit, well known as a gateway to Kruger National Park, seems to put its worst foot forward repeatedly. The acquisition of the stadium site itself seemed nefarious. The municipality persuaded the trustees of a huge tract of ancestral land to sell 173 acres for 1 rand, or 13 cents. Those intended to benefit from the trust objected, and a judge canceled the deal, likening it to when colonial powers robbed the naïve in return for “buttons and shiny mirrors.” The eventual price was about $1 million. “There has been nothing but duplicity, double dealings and double agendas,” said Richard Spoor, the lawyer who handled the case. “And what will we have after the World Cup is played? There’s no team to occupy the stadium. It will be a white elephant. Politicians will use it to make speeches.”
Two schools — John Mdluli Primary School and Cyril Clark High School — sat on the purchased land. They were bulldozed in 2007, and the students were transferred to hot and airless prefabricated classrooms. Parents and their children repeatedly staged protests. They blocked streets, burned tires and once even torched a police car. The police dispersed them with rubber bullets. This year construction began to replace the demolished schools. “The school problem made us furious, that and the need for jobs,” said Mr. Magagula, who lives near the new arena. “Some people were hired to work on the stadium, but not enough. We’ve been promised a better life, but look how we live. If you pour water into a glass, you can see things moving inside.” And yet he loves soccer, the favorite sport of black South Africans. He cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. He could afford only one ticket for one game, an $18 seat specially priced for the country’s residents.
Nelspruit is one of five cities to get new stadiums, including some arenas that are quite spectacular. It will host Honduras versus Chile; Italy versus New Zealand; Australia versus Serbia; North Korea versus Ivory Coast. “I chose the Italians,” Mr. Magagula said proudly. “I don’t really care who wins. But whatever happens, I’ll never forget it.”
Source: New York Times
Friday, February 26, 2010
Prominent mayor on 'hit-lists'
The family of Lassy Chiwayo, Mbombela (Nelspruit) Local Municipality mayor, wants him to quit politics because his name apparently tops three reported hit-lists that could be targeting whistleblowers The Mail & Guardian has been told that first list contains the names of 20 people who should be "shot and poisoned", the second names 10 people who should be "shot", while the third names six who should be "poisoned".
The lists are said to be circulating in Mpumalanga. "Obviously, your family will be concerned if your name is rumoured to be on a hit-list, especially taking into consideration that some of the people also alleged to be on the list have already been killed," Chiwayo said this week. "My family has asked me to reconsider my position in politics and to return to private business. I am worried about my children because I can't protect them 24 hours a day."
But he is not about to resign as mayor. "I joined politics at the age of 13 -- I came home one day wearing an Azapo T-shirt and my mom beat me. I didn't give up and I'm not about to do so now," he said. Before being deployed as ANC mayor, Chiwayo was a businessman involved in the Gautrain project. He said he had "no doubt" that some murders and the hit-lists were related to tenders and politics in the province. "I know for a fact that [former Mbombela speaker] Jimmy Mohlala was killed for being vocal about the 2010 Mbombela stadium tender irregularities," he said.
Mohlala was shot and killed outside his house in KaNyamazane on January 4 this year, a week before he was to testify about dismissed municipal manager Jacob Dladla's refusal to implement 361 council resolutions and his role in alleged tender irregularities linked to the Mbombela stadium. Mohlala also wanted fraud charges to be laid against the project managers, Lefika Emerging Equity.
The murder this year of senior government communicator Sammy Mphatlanyane could also be tender related. A police source said that Mphatlanyane's death outside his Nelspruit house on January 8 could have been linked to his refusal to award a R20-million tender from the provincial department of culture, sport and recreation to a friend of a prominent ANC leader in the province. Mphatlanyane was deputy director of communications in the department.
Mphatlanyane and Mohlala's names were on the 20-people hit-list, which was the first to surface. Chiwayo said the police should "leave no stone unturned" in tracking down the killers. "If the mastermind is within the ANC or holds a high position in the government, law enforcement should be even harsher," he said.
The name of Nelspruit service-station owner Thabo Theledi also appears on the lists. The police source said he was supposed to have been killed on Wednesday last week, but the killer had "chickened out". Theledi said he had no idea why his name should be on a hit-list. "I left politics a long time ago and I was just an ordinary ANC member. The last time I renewed my ANC membership was five years ago and I've been running my business solo."
Provincial police spokesperson Sibongile Nkosi said the police are still investigating the origin and credibility of the hit-lists. "It's possible that someone may have sent us a fake list just to derail and confuse the police in their investigation," Nkosi said. She said a number of people had been questioned about the two murders, but they had been released for lack of evidence.
Source: Mail & Guardian
The lists are said to be circulating in Mpumalanga. "Obviously, your family will be concerned if your name is rumoured to be on a hit-list, especially taking into consideration that some of the people also alleged to be on the list have already been killed," Chiwayo said this week. "My family has asked me to reconsider my position in politics and to return to private business. I am worried about my children because I can't protect them 24 hours a day."
But he is not about to resign as mayor. "I joined politics at the age of 13 -- I came home one day wearing an Azapo T-shirt and my mom beat me. I didn't give up and I'm not about to do so now," he said. Before being deployed as ANC mayor, Chiwayo was a businessman involved in the Gautrain project. He said he had "no doubt" that some murders and the hit-lists were related to tenders and politics in the province. "I know for a fact that [former Mbombela speaker] Jimmy Mohlala was killed for being vocal about the 2010 Mbombela stadium tender irregularities," he said.
Mohlala was shot and killed outside his house in KaNyamazane on January 4 this year, a week before he was to testify about dismissed municipal manager Jacob Dladla's refusal to implement 361 council resolutions and his role in alleged tender irregularities linked to the Mbombela stadium. Mohlala also wanted fraud charges to be laid against the project managers, Lefika Emerging Equity.
The murder this year of senior government communicator Sammy Mphatlanyane could also be tender related. A police source said that Mphatlanyane's death outside his Nelspruit house on January 8 could have been linked to his refusal to award a R20-million tender from the provincial department of culture, sport and recreation to a friend of a prominent ANC leader in the province. Mphatlanyane was deputy director of communications in the department.
Mphatlanyane and Mohlala's names were on the 20-people hit-list, which was the first to surface. Chiwayo said the police should "leave no stone unturned" in tracking down the killers. "If the mastermind is within the ANC or holds a high position in the government, law enforcement should be even harsher," he said.
The name of Nelspruit service-station owner Thabo Theledi also appears on the lists. The police source said he was supposed to have been killed on Wednesday last week, but the killer had "chickened out". Theledi said he had no idea why his name should be on a hit-list. "I left politics a long time ago and I was just an ordinary ANC member. The last time I renewed my ANC membership was five years ago and I've been running my business solo."
Provincial police spokesperson Sibongile Nkosi said the police are still investigating the origin and credibility of the hit-lists. "It's possible that someone may have sent us a fake list just to derail and confuse the police in their investigation," Nkosi said. She said a number of people had been questioned about the two murders, but they had been released for lack of evidence.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Monday, February 8, 2010
Mabuza must resign over ANC hit list - DA
The Premier of Mpumalanga, David Mabuza, ought to resign over the spate of murders and the existence of a hit list of ANC officials - which is reportedly linked with World Cup tender disputes amongst other things (see report).
The factionalism, infighting and now apparently downright criminal antics going on in Mpumalanga require a root and branch overhaul. The Mpumalanga administration is now in chaos - but we should not be surprised; Mr. Mabuza, after all, resigned in disgrace as Mpumalanga MEC for Education after his department illegally inflated the province's matric pass rate in 1998 from 46% to 72.5%. Investigators revealed the jump to be fraudulent and the 7000 pupils who initially ‘passed' their exams were later told they had in fact failed. Then it was reported in July last year that Mabuza had failed to deal with alleged tender irregularities in his government. While he was MEC for agriculture he reportedly authorised the awarding of a R210-million tender to a company owned by his former wife, even though her company had been suspended.
The dissatisfaction with Mabuza's leadership is further evident in a letter sent to President Zuma in September 2009. The DA was forwarded a copy of this letter from an anonymous source, in which Premier Mabuza is accused of ignoring glaring irregularities brought to his attention, in a range of departments. Eyebrows have also been raised by the awarding of a R232 million tender awarded to the ‘Sizwengedaba - Laeveld Trekkers joint venture', for the provision and maintenance of farm mechanisation equipment in rural communities.
Today, the MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Sibongile Manana, issued responses to a number of questions that I have submitted on this matter, stating that she was "aware of the rumour about the hit list". The questions also reveal that of 11 murders, disappearances or survived assassination attempts, only in two cases has a culprit been tried, convicted and sentenced.
* Saul Shabangu (killed in 1998): one person charged, but released due to a lack of evidence
* Hebron Maisela (killed in 1998): one person was arrested, but released due to a lack of evidence
* Sydney De Lange (killed in 1998): one person was arrested, but released due to a lack of evidence
* Rose Alleta Mnisi (killed in 1999): one person was convicted to life imprisonment
* Caswell Maluleke (survived assassination attempt in 2000): case closed as undetected
* Joshua Ntshuhle (disappeared in 2005): no-one has been arrested
* Sizile Ndlovu (survived assassination attempt in 2006): case closed as undetected
* Thandi Mtsweni (killed in 2008): one person convicted of 20 years. Three others to appear in court in August.
* Jimmy Mohlala (killed in 2009): case still under investigation
* Isaac Mohale (killed in 2009): two arrests, suspects due to appear in court this week
* Sammy Mpatlanyane (killed in 2010): case under investigation
Ms Manana also admitted that no-one is currently receiving police protection for threats made on their lives. Surely this must be made a priority, to protect those that are willing to expose this dreadful affair. Whistle-blowers simply cannot be left in the cold with no initiative from government to provide adequate protection. The Democratic Alliance will write to Ms Manana to ensure that those at risk are given the requisite protection, and that a proper forum is established through which whistleblowers can give evidence so that this matter and other irregularities can be exposed, investigated and put to bed.
Source: Politics Web
The factionalism, infighting and now apparently downright criminal antics going on in Mpumalanga require a root and branch overhaul. The Mpumalanga administration is now in chaos - but we should not be surprised; Mr. Mabuza, after all, resigned in disgrace as Mpumalanga MEC for Education after his department illegally inflated the province's matric pass rate in 1998 from 46% to 72.5%. Investigators revealed the jump to be fraudulent and the 7000 pupils who initially ‘passed' their exams were later told they had in fact failed. Then it was reported in July last year that Mabuza had failed to deal with alleged tender irregularities in his government. While he was MEC for agriculture he reportedly authorised the awarding of a R210-million tender to a company owned by his former wife, even though her company had been suspended.
The dissatisfaction with Mabuza's leadership is further evident in a letter sent to President Zuma in September 2009. The DA was forwarded a copy of this letter from an anonymous source, in which Premier Mabuza is accused of ignoring glaring irregularities brought to his attention, in a range of departments. Eyebrows have also been raised by the awarding of a R232 million tender awarded to the ‘Sizwengedaba - Laeveld Trekkers joint venture', for the provision and maintenance of farm mechanisation equipment in rural communities.
Today, the MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Sibongile Manana, issued responses to a number of questions that I have submitted on this matter, stating that she was "aware of the rumour about the hit list". The questions also reveal that of 11 murders, disappearances or survived assassination attempts, only in two cases has a culprit been tried, convicted and sentenced.
* Saul Shabangu (killed in 1998): one person charged, but released due to a lack of evidence
* Hebron Maisela (killed in 1998): one person was arrested, but released due to a lack of evidence
* Sydney De Lange (killed in 1998): one person was arrested, but released due to a lack of evidence
* Rose Alleta Mnisi (killed in 1999): one person was convicted to life imprisonment
* Caswell Maluleke (survived assassination attempt in 2000): case closed as undetected
* Joshua Ntshuhle (disappeared in 2005): no-one has been arrested
* Sizile Ndlovu (survived assassination attempt in 2006): case closed as undetected
* Thandi Mtsweni (killed in 2008): one person convicted of 20 years. Three others to appear in court in August.
* Jimmy Mohlala (killed in 2009): case still under investigation
* Isaac Mohale (killed in 2009): two arrests, suspects due to appear in court this week
* Sammy Mpatlanyane (killed in 2010): case under investigation
Ms Manana also admitted that no-one is currently receiving police protection for threats made on their lives. Surely this must be made a priority, to protect those that are willing to expose this dreadful affair. Whistle-blowers simply cannot be left in the cold with no initiative from government to provide adequate protection. The Democratic Alliance will write to Ms Manana to ensure that those at risk are given the requisite protection, and that a proper forum is established through which whistleblowers can give evidence so that this matter and other irregularities can be exposed, investigated and put to bed.
Source: Politics Web
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Murder Inc in Mbombela
Inside Mpumalanga hit squads: Special report by Charles Molele and Mzilikazi Wa Afrika: ANC boss used to have opponents shot, but switched to poison last year.
A 25-year-old contract killer has accused an influential ANC leader in Mpumalanga of offering him R100000 and a cushy government job if he poisoned government officials who were blocking access to tenders linked to the 2010 soccer World Cup.
The ANC boss, whose name is known to the Sunday Times, was fingered by more than a dozen other sources interviewed during a three-week investigation into the killings of at least a dozen senior politicians in Mpumalanga starting in 1998. The would-be assassin said he had been given the poison and had been ready to do the job, but had pulled out after a disagreement with his "client" over an advance fee. Though his three intended victims are still alive, six officials were murdered or died in suspicious circumstances in Mpumalanga last year alone and another has been killed this year. Local party leaders and officials who spoke to the Sunday Times mentioned a "hit list" of other proposed victims and said they were living in fear.
The Sunday Times has been given the full name of a Mozambican gangster known as "Josh" and told that he was responsible for the murder in January 2009 of Mbombela (Nelspruit) council speaker Jimmy Mohlala. "Josh" agreed to speak to our reporters in Mozambique, but then changed his mind. ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu - the former speaker of the Mpumalanga legislature - said the ruling party was aware of the alleged hit list and had sent a task team to investigate those responsible for the killings of its members in the province.
The Sunday Times investigation took reporters to sources in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Mozambique. Those interviewed included senior ANC members, municipal officials and National Intelligence Agency sources, as well as the province's former ANC Youth League leader, James Nkambule, and Mpu-malanga Democratic Alliance leader Anthony Benadie The Sunday Times has given details of the plot to police Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi and Mpumalanga's deputy provincial commissioner, Rex Machabi. They said the would-be killer would be interviewed soon.
The assassin said many people lived in fear of the ANC leader he had named. "This politician must be exposed and expelled from the ANC in order to stop his reign of terror in Mpumalanga. I am scared of him. Even those in the higher echelons are scared of him because he is too dangerous. I don't want to go on killing innocent people," he said. However, he did not admit to any killings. A former ANC regional leader, Alfred Monareng, said the ANC boss and his cabal used to have their opponents shot, but had switched to poison last year. He said the assassin interviewed by the Sunday Times had confessed to him that he had planned to spike a bottle of Johnny Walker whisky on Christmas Eve while drinking with him at his home in White River, where he works as a senior waste manager in the Mbombela municipality. "He told me he was about to poison me, but decided not to," said Monareng. "The motive behind the plot to kill me is apparently to force me to vacate my post in order to make way for a preferred Samwu (municipal workers' union) candidate who is known to me. They cannot find any case of misconduct, irregularities or corrupt activity, so they have resorted to poisoning me," he said.
Monareng said he had not believed the confession, but then discovered that other suspicious deaths, including that of his brother, could have been as a result of poison. "We now suspect that my brother, Themba (regional secretary), Mthandazo Ngobeni (chairman of the ANC Youth League), Vusi Sibiya (regional secretary), Lucas Shongwe (regional secretary) and the fiery ANC member Michael Sifunda were allegedly poisoned, as they showed similar symptoms before they died." They all vomited a white foam before dying.
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo, whose name is on the hit list, said he was living in fear after receiving death threats on his cellphone. He has sent a report to ANC headquarters at Luthuli House about his victimisation. "I have been told I will go back home in a coffin," said Chiwayo. Deputy mayor Nackie Ndlovu said she had been told of plans to poison her. "I fear for my life and cannot trust anyone. There have been so many killings in Mpumalanga. We are pleading with the ANC to do something because we are really not safe any more," she said. At least 12 local leaders have been murdered or have died in suspicious circumstances in Mpumalanga since 1998. Police say they are investigating, but no one has been arrested.
People who spoke to the Sunday Times said they were afraid to give information to police because they did not know which faction of the party the law enforcement agents supported. DA provincial leader Benadie slammed Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza for his silence on the deaths of three senior officials who had been on the alleged hit list. "Why have we not heard (from) the premier on these murders, the hit list and poisoning claims? The premier is a feared man. Our constitutional democracy is at stake if people won't talk because they are afraid of being taken out," said Benadie.
Former youth league leader Nkambule said he knew who was behind at least one of the killings of senior officials in government and had given the information to crime intelligence officials. He said some of the murders were planned at a farm outside Nelspruit owned by another ANC politician. Nkambule made headlines when he alleged that premier Mabuza had contributed R400000 to sponsor President Jacob Zuma's wedding to his second wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli.
Mohlala was shot dead at his house in Kanyamazane, outside Nelspruit, after he allegedly blew the whistle on the abuse of power and corruption relating to the construction of the province's R1-billion Mbombela Stadium intended for use during the 2010 World Cup.
Four weeks ago, Sammy Mpatlanyane, communications director in the provincial Department of Arts, Culture and Sport, was also gunned down at his home in Nelspruit. Mpatlanyane allegedly was regarded as an obstacle by the ANC boss and his powerful allies to winning irregular tenders involving the World Cup.
ANC national spokesman Mthembu said: "We are aware of the hit list and allegations against the politicians allegedly involved in these killings, but we cannot do anything until the police crack these cases. "We are particularly incensed that nobody has been brought to book since the murder of Mohlala. His murder happened so many months ago, but until now we still have not received any information that makes us confident that the matter is being dealt with properly."
Chasing the Fifa millions and other lucrative deals has been fatal for many in Mpumalanga.
The following people have either been killed, received death threats, disappeared or survived assassination attempts on their lives. The hit men - most of them alleged to be Zimbabwean and Mozambican nationals - are still at large.
* Saul Shabangu, (killed in 1998);
* Hebron Maisela (killed in 1998);
* Sydney de Lange (killed in 1998);
* Rose Alleta Mnisi (killed in 1999);
* Caswell Maluleke, (survived assassination in 2000);
* Joshua Ntshuhle (disappeared in 2005);
* Sizile Ndlovu, (survived assassination in 2006);
* Thandi Mtsweni (killed in 2008);
* Jimmy Mohlala (killed in 2009);
* Isaac Mohale Matsoabane (killed in 2009);
* Samuel Mpatlanyane (killed in 2010);
* Themba Monareng (died 2009);
* Mike Sifunda (died 2009);
* Simon Lubisi (died 2009);
* Lucas Shongwe (died 2009).
Source: Times Live
A 25-year-old contract killer has accused an influential ANC leader in Mpumalanga of offering him R100000 and a cushy government job if he poisoned government officials who were blocking access to tenders linked to the 2010 soccer World Cup.
The ANC boss, whose name is known to the Sunday Times, was fingered by more than a dozen other sources interviewed during a three-week investigation into the killings of at least a dozen senior politicians in Mpumalanga starting in 1998. The would-be assassin said he had been given the poison and had been ready to do the job, but had pulled out after a disagreement with his "client" over an advance fee. Though his three intended victims are still alive, six officials were murdered or died in suspicious circumstances in Mpumalanga last year alone and another has been killed this year. Local party leaders and officials who spoke to the Sunday Times mentioned a "hit list" of other proposed victims and said they were living in fear.
The Sunday Times has been given the full name of a Mozambican gangster known as "Josh" and told that he was responsible for the murder in January 2009 of Mbombela (Nelspruit) council speaker Jimmy Mohlala. "Josh" agreed to speak to our reporters in Mozambique, but then changed his mind. ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu - the former speaker of the Mpumalanga legislature - said the ruling party was aware of the alleged hit list and had sent a task team to investigate those responsible for the killings of its members in the province.
The Sunday Times investigation took reporters to sources in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Mozambique. Those interviewed included senior ANC members, municipal officials and National Intelligence Agency sources, as well as the province's former ANC Youth League leader, James Nkambule, and Mpu-malanga Democratic Alliance leader Anthony Benadie The Sunday Times has given details of the plot to police Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi and Mpumalanga's deputy provincial commissioner, Rex Machabi. They said the would-be killer would be interviewed soon.
The assassin said many people lived in fear of the ANC leader he had named. "This politician must be exposed and expelled from the ANC in order to stop his reign of terror in Mpumalanga. I am scared of him. Even those in the higher echelons are scared of him because he is too dangerous. I don't want to go on killing innocent people," he said. However, he did not admit to any killings. A former ANC regional leader, Alfred Monareng, said the ANC boss and his cabal used to have their opponents shot, but had switched to poison last year. He said the assassin interviewed by the Sunday Times had confessed to him that he had planned to spike a bottle of Johnny Walker whisky on Christmas Eve while drinking with him at his home in White River, where he works as a senior waste manager in the Mbombela municipality. "He told me he was about to poison me, but decided not to," said Monareng. "The motive behind the plot to kill me is apparently to force me to vacate my post in order to make way for a preferred Samwu (municipal workers' union) candidate who is known to me. They cannot find any case of misconduct, irregularities or corrupt activity, so they have resorted to poisoning me," he said.
Monareng said he had not believed the confession, but then discovered that other suspicious deaths, including that of his brother, could have been as a result of poison. "We now suspect that my brother, Themba (regional secretary), Mthandazo Ngobeni (chairman of the ANC Youth League), Vusi Sibiya (regional secretary), Lucas Shongwe (regional secretary) and the fiery ANC member Michael Sifunda were allegedly poisoned, as they showed similar symptoms before they died." They all vomited a white foam before dying.
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo, whose name is on the hit list, said he was living in fear after receiving death threats on his cellphone. He has sent a report to ANC headquarters at Luthuli House about his victimisation. "I have been told I will go back home in a coffin," said Chiwayo. Deputy mayor Nackie Ndlovu said she had been told of plans to poison her. "I fear for my life and cannot trust anyone. There have been so many killings in Mpumalanga. We are pleading with the ANC to do something because we are really not safe any more," she said. At least 12 local leaders have been murdered or have died in suspicious circumstances in Mpumalanga since 1998. Police say they are investigating, but no one has been arrested.
People who spoke to the Sunday Times said they were afraid to give information to police because they did not know which faction of the party the law enforcement agents supported. DA provincial leader Benadie slammed Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza for his silence on the deaths of three senior officials who had been on the alleged hit list. "Why have we not heard (from) the premier on these murders, the hit list and poisoning claims? The premier is a feared man. Our constitutional democracy is at stake if people won't talk because they are afraid of being taken out," said Benadie.
Former youth league leader Nkambule said he knew who was behind at least one of the killings of senior officials in government and had given the information to crime intelligence officials. He said some of the murders were planned at a farm outside Nelspruit owned by another ANC politician. Nkambule made headlines when he alleged that premier Mabuza had contributed R400000 to sponsor President Jacob Zuma's wedding to his second wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli.
Mohlala was shot dead at his house in Kanyamazane, outside Nelspruit, after he allegedly blew the whistle on the abuse of power and corruption relating to the construction of the province's R1-billion Mbombela Stadium intended for use during the 2010 World Cup.
Four weeks ago, Sammy Mpatlanyane, communications director in the provincial Department of Arts, Culture and Sport, was also gunned down at his home in Nelspruit. Mpatlanyane allegedly was regarded as an obstacle by the ANC boss and his powerful allies to winning irregular tenders involving the World Cup.
ANC national spokesman Mthembu said: "We are aware of the hit list and allegations against the politicians allegedly involved in these killings, but we cannot do anything until the police crack these cases. "We are particularly incensed that nobody has been brought to book since the murder of Mohlala. His murder happened so many months ago, but until now we still have not received any information that makes us confident that the matter is being dealt with properly."
Chasing the Fifa millions and other lucrative deals has been fatal for many in Mpumalanga.
The following people have either been killed, received death threats, disappeared or survived assassination attempts on their lives. The hit men - most of them alleged to be Zimbabwean and Mozambican nationals - are still at large.
* Saul Shabangu, (killed in 1998);
* Hebron Maisela (killed in 1998);
* Sydney de Lange (killed in 1998);
* Rose Alleta Mnisi (killed in 1999);
* Caswell Maluleke, (survived assassination in 2000);
* Joshua Ntshuhle (disappeared in 2005);
* Sizile Ndlovu, (survived assassination in 2006);
* Thandi Mtsweni (killed in 2008);
* Jimmy Mohlala (killed in 2009);
* Isaac Mohale Matsoabane (killed in 2009);
* Samuel Mpatlanyane (killed in 2010);
* Themba Monareng (died 2009);
* Mike Sifunda (died 2009);
* Simon Lubisi (died 2009);
* Lucas Shongwe (died 2009).
Source: Times Live
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sanef slams threat against editor
The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has pledged its full support for Mercury news editor Philani Makhanya, who has lodged a complaint of intimidation against Durban millionaire and former metro policeman S'bu Mpisane, following perceived threats he made relating to an investigation the newspaper is conducting.
Sanef said it was interesting that the politically connected, high-spending businessman was a friend of national police commissioner Bheki Cele. "As Angela Quintal, editor of The Mercury, says in her supporting affidavit, the newspaper, like all media, has a special duty to uphold the principle of freedom of expression and to eliminate dishonesty, news suppression and censorship."
After allegedly threatening Makhanya during a phone call, Mpisane referred to his relationship with Cele and said that "Bheki will defend me even if I go to jail". Cele told The Mercury he would not condone illegal activity, including from those he knew, if they had transgressed the law. He distanced himself from the threats Mpisane allegedly made. Police are investigating the complaint.
Sanef said it was also outraged at reports that journalists in Mpumalanga were on a hit list targeting corruption-busters in the province. "So far two provincial government officials said to have been on the list have been murdered. Samuel Mpatlanyane, Mpumalanga's sports and culture department head of communications, was shot dead by assassins during the night last week.
"Vusi Shongwe, the province's sports and culture MEC, has blamed the murder on the same people who killed Mbombela municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala. Mohlala was similarly executed at home in front of his son last January." Mohlala was a witness in a disciplinary hearing concerning financial mismanagement related to the Mbombela Stadium, a World Cup venue.
Sanef said the murder and threatened murder of potential witnesses and journalists put a nasty twist on South Africa's struggle against corruption. "Sanef deplores the loss of life so far and urges anybody with information about the alleged hit list to inform the police without delay."
Source: IoL
Sanef said it was interesting that the politically connected, high-spending businessman was a friend of national police commissioner Bheki Cele. "As Angela Quintal, editor of The Mercury, says in her supporting affidavit, the newspaper, like all media, has a special duty to uphold the principle of freedom of expression and to eliminate dishonesty, news suppression and censorship."
After allegedly threatening Makhanya during a phone call, Mpisane referred to his relationship with Cele and said that "Bheki will defend me even if I go to jail". Cele told The Mercury he would not condone illegal activity, including from those he knew, if they had transgressed the law. He distanced himself from the threats Mpisane allegedly made. Police are investigating the complaint.
Sanef said it was also outraged at reports that journalists in Mpumalanga were on a hit list targeting corruption-busters in the province. "So far two provincial government officials said to have been on the list have been murdered. Samuel Mpatlanyane, Mpumalanga's sports and culture department head of communications, was shot dead by assassins during the night last week.
"Vusi Shongwe, the province's sports and culture MEC, has blamed the murder on the same people who killed Mbombela municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala. Mohlala was similarly executed at home in front of his son last January." Mohlala was a witness in a disciplinary hearing concerning financial mismanagement related to the Mbombela Stadium, a World Cup venue.
Sanef said the murder and threatened murder of potential witnesses and journalists put a nasty twist on South Africa's struggle against corruption. "Sanef deplores the loss of life so far and urges anybody with information about the alleged hit list to inform the police without delay."
Source: IoL
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Scandals, murder taint World Cup stadium
Mbombela is one of the most atmospheric new stadiums built for the 2010 World Cup, nestled among the beautiful hills of Mpumalanga and supported by orange pylons that resemble giraffes. But the almost R1.3 billion stadium has been tarnished by a string of scandals, including the murder, apparently by professional hitmen, of a municipal official who blew the whistle on alleged corruption and malpractice.
The stadium has been built just outside Nelspruit, the gateway to South Africa's most famous game park, the Kruger - hence the giraffes - in an area of great beauty, where most of the country's citrus fruit and avocados are grown. But the multiple controversies over World Cup projects have tainted that beauty. Even the mayor describes them as ugly.
The scandals include a failed attempt by the municipality to buy the stadium land from the Matsafeni community owners for R1, allegations of irregular tenders, overpayments, conflicts of interest and tax evasion. In 2008 an angry high court judge blocked the deal, accusing the municipality of being like colonial settlers who tried to buy land for mirrors and shiny buttons. Now the Matsafeni have agreed on a transfer worth almost R9 million. Municipal manager Joseph Dladla was suspended early in 2008 after a scathing investigation by a local law firm which alleged his misconduct had brought the municipality close to collapse. His ally, mayor Justice Nsibande, was fired and the municipality placed under external administration. Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, the leading critic of alleged irregularities, was killed by masked men outside his home in January. No arrests have been made.
Stadium construction, now almost complete, was dogged by repeated labour protests and violent clashes between police and local people angered by failure to build new schools to replace two displaced by the project. Failures to deliver electricity and water to Mataffin township next to the arena mean that World Cup matches could be played within sight of tin shacks where people live in sordid conditions without piped water or sewers.
Excitement is growing about the World Cup in South Africa and Nelspruit is decorated with colourful posters for the tournament. But there is no enthusiasm in Mataffin. "We are not happy the World Cup is coming to South Africa," said Sarah Shabangu, 29, an unemployed mother of three, as she drew water from a dirty borehole close to pit latrines and shacks within sight of the stadium. "Only a greedy few corrupt officials and their friends are going to benefit. The people on the ground won't get anything," she said. Her friend Khelina Sibuyi, 49, agreed. "We use this water for drinking, cooking and bathing. The kids get sick and have diarrhoea; ever since they built the stadium we have been hoping for help in getting services but nothing is happening, there is no water or electricity."
Four girls plaiting each others' hair under a tree beside a dirt road in Mataffin said they had been off school for two weeks because of a strike over failure to build new classrooms. Their schools were taken over as offices by stadium builders in 2007 and the children moved into hot temporary classrooms that residents say are converted containers. The girls said air conditioners installed in 2008 worked for only two weeks.
Residents have a document signed by provincial officials in September 2008 promising new schools by July 2009. Frustration over the failure to keep that promise erupted earlier in October with stone-throwing youths clashing with police on three occasions. A squad car was set on fire. Residents say the police retaliated by storming into their houses and firing buckshot and rubber bullets. Phumzile Rooi, 23, sat listlessly outside her hut and showed an ugly wound on her leg she said was from a rubber bullet.
Police spokesman Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said only two policemen and one protester were hurt. He denied officers had stormed into residents' houses. Asked during an angry township meeting what World Cup fans would think when they saw Mataffin, another resident who asked not to be named said: "They will think they have come to hell." Differ Mogale, the municipality's 2010 coordinator, acknowledged that the scandals had damaged the city's image. "It does, irrespective of the truthfulness of whatever was said." But he said none of the allegations had been proven and until they were he was not worried about any impact on the World Cup. Asked about the schools, he added: "That really concerns us, because we were part of the stakeholders that confirmed the schools should be built."
Construction would be finished by the end of 2009 while water and electricity supplying the stadium would be extended into Mataffin before the tournament, he said. But he said: "This is Africa, we don't have to close certain things because they are ugly."
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo said the situation in the township was "very painful; I have to admit that in this instance we have failed our people". He promised construction of new schools would start very shortly but many remain sceptical, including human rights lawyer Richard Spoor who helped the Matsafeni remove discredited leaders who agreed the R1 sale, which he said was a corrupt scheme to benefit a few politicians and officials. "They promised a new school, they promised a new church, they promised many things. Every single one of those promises and those undertakings has been broken, they have done nothing," Spoor said. "It is clear to me now that it is far too late to do anything about Mataffin, so visitors are going to come here and see the slums first hand; it is a pitiful situation."
Source: IoL
The stadium has been built just outside Nelspruit, the gateway to South Africa's most famous game park, the Kruger - hence the giraffes - in an area of great beauty, where most of the country's citrus fruit and avocados are grown. But the multiple controversies over World Cup projects have tainted that beauty. Even the mayor describes them as ugly.
The scandals include a failed attempt by the municipality to buy the stadium land from the Matsafeni community owners for R1, allegations of irregular tenders, overpayments, conflicts of interest and tax evasion. In 2008 an angry high court judge blocked the deal, accusing the municipality of being like colonial settlers who tried to buy land for mirrors and shiny buttons. Now the Matsafeni have agreed on a transfer worth almost R9 million. Municipal manager Joseph Dladla was suspended early in 2008 after a scathing investigation by a local law firm which alleged his misconduct had brought the municipality close to collapse. His ally, mayor Justice Nsibande, was fired and the municipality placed under external administration. Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, the leading critic of alleged irregularities, was killed by masked men outside his home in January. No arrests have been made.
Stadium construction, now almost complete, was dogged by repeated labour protests and violent clashes between police and local people angered by failure to build new schools to replace two displaced by the project. Failures to deliver electricity and water to Mataffin township next to the arena mean that World Cup matches could be played within sight of tin shacks where people live in sordid conditions without piped water or sewers.
Excitement is growing about the World Cup in South Africa and Nelspruit is decorated with colourful posters for the tournament. But there is no enthusiasm in Mataffin. "We are not happy the World Cup is coming to South Africa," said Sarah Shabangu, 29, an unemployed mother of three, as she drew water from a dirty borehole close to pit latrines and shacks within sight of the stadium. "Only a greedy few corrupt officials and their friends are going to benefit. The people on the ground won't get anything," she said. Her friend Khelina Sibuyi, 49, agreed. "We use this water for drinking, cooking and bathing. The kids get sick and have diarrhoea; ever since they built the stadium we have been hoping for help in getting services but nothing is happening, there is no water or electricity."
Four girls plaiting each others' hair under a tree beside a dirt road in Mataffin said they had been off school for two weeks because of a strike over failure to build new classrooms. Their schools were taken over as offices by stadium builders in 2007 and the children moved into hot temporary classrooms that residents say are converted containers. The girls said air conditioners installed in 2008 worked for only two weeks.
Residents have a document signed by provincial officials in September 2008 promising new schools by July 2009. Frustration over the failure to keep that promise erupted earlier in October with stone-throwing youths clashing with police on three occasions. A squad car was set on fire. Residents say the police retaliated by storming into their houses and firing buckshot and rubber bullets. Phumzile Rooi, 23, sat listlessly outside her hut and showed an ugly wound on her leg she said was from a rubber bullet.
Police spokesman Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said only two policemen and one protester were hurt. He denied officers had stormed into residents' houses. Asked during an angry township meeting what World Cup fans would think when they saw Mataffin, another resident who asked not to be named said: "They will think they have come to hell." Differ Mogale, the municipality's 2010 coordinator, acknowledged that the scandals had damaged the city's image. "It does, irrespective of the truthfulness of whatever was said." But he said none of the allegations had been proven and until they were he was not worried about any impact on the World Cup. Asked about the schools, he added: "That really concerns us, because we were part of the stakeholders that confirmed the schools should be built."
Construction would be finished by the end of 2009 while water and electricity supplying the stadium would be extended into Mataffin before the tournament, he said. But he said: "This is Africa, we don't have to close certain things because they are ugly."
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo said the situation in the township was "very painful; I have to admit that in this instance we have failed our people". He promised construction of new schools would start very shortly but many remain sceptical, including human rights lawyer Richard Spoor who helped the Matsafeni remove discredited leaders who agreed the R1 sale, which he said was a corrupt scheme to benefit a few politicians and officials. "They promised a new school, they promised a new church, they promised many things. Every single one of those promises and those undertakings has been broken, they have done nothing," Spoor said. "It is clear to me now that it is far too late to do anything about Mataffin, so visitors are going to come here and see the slums first hand; it is a pitiful situation."
Source: IoL
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