‘I’m not going anywhere’, declares embattled Newcastle mayor

Newcastle mayor Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba appeared briefly in the Madadeni Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning, with the case being postponed to July 9, reports Newcastle Advertiser.

Mahlaba is facing four charges relating to the murder of Wandile (Manqasha) Ngobeni, a former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) official, who was killed in May 2016.

Mahlaba looked visibly exhausted. His defence team stated they were still waiting for two representations from the state that had allegedly been sent to the deputy director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, advocate Cyril Selepe‚ for observation.

ALSO READ: Newcastle mayor appears in court twice in one day

They further stated Selepe had acknowledged receiving those statements from the state and would be emailing them to the defence team today, and this had led to the postponement of the case.

After his appearance, Mahlaba addressed the crowd of supporters who were standing outside the court.

“I am the chairperson of the Emalahleni Region and I am not going anywhere. I am the mayor of Newcastle and I am not going anywhere. Tomorrow I will be at the council meeting to discuss the municipality’s budget. We are dealing with corruption; people have run the municipality dry with illegal invoices. I know this for a fact.”

He vehemently stated that he was not afraid South African Police Minister Bheki Cele.

“I am deployed by the ANC, and I am still in the ANC,” he concluded.

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