NELSPRUIT – The last case in the January killings has come to an end without casting light on any underhanded political agendas. This after a period of four years since Mr Sammy Mpatlanyane, former head of communications and spokesman for the Department for Culture, Sport and Recreation, was shot dead in his home in Stonehenge. The incident occurred on January 8, 2010.
One of the men accused of murdering Mpatlanyane, Mr Nito Mashava, was pronounced mentally unfit to stand trial in the Nelspruit Circuit of the Gauteng High Court on Monday.
Judge Mr Collin Lamot stated that if Mashava had been able to do so, due to the evidence of his fingerprints found at the scene of the crime, and the illegal firearm, he would not have been able to deny that he had shot the victim.
Lamot stated that due to the accused having been examined by a psychiatrist, who confirmed he could not tell the difference between right and wrong and was unable to comprehend court proceedings, as well as for the sake of the public’s safety and the violent nature of his offences, he would be detained in a psychiatric hospital or prison.
The co-accused, Mr Issa Omara Shafil and Mr Abo “Tupac” Ntumba had their cases withdrawn by the state when evidence came to light that both had been assaulted by police during a pointing out.
Mashava and Shafil were arrested in March and April 2011 respectively, more than a year after what police described as Mpatlanyane’s callous killing. Ntumba’s arrest followed a couple of months later in June.
His death came just weeks after he had returned from an educational sabbatical to Germany, where he had been preparing for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, which he never got to experience.
Rumours had it that shortly before his death, Mpatlanyane had intended to divulge information that would have exposed corruption regarding the awarding of tenders in connection with Mbombela Stadium.
Yet the state had denied any political involvement in the murder.
