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WATCH: ‘I know I’m next’ – Slain ANC councillor named his alleged killers before they struck
Murdered ANC councillor recorded a video revealing names of alleged political killing masterminds, and predicted that he was next.
Slain ANC councillor Sbonelo ‘Smile’ Mthembu. Photo: Facebook
A murdered Mpumalanga ANC councillor is seemingly fighting back from beyond the grave, as a video he recorded revealing that his days were numbered and who his alleged killers would be apparently forms part of the investigation into the triple murder.
Provincial police would not confirm that they are looking into the video in which Sbonelo ‘Smile’ Mthembu names people he claimed wanted him dead.
These figures include former Mkhondo municipality mayor Vusi “Sgemegeme” Motha, who Mthembu claimed had compiled a hit list of people who were opposed to his alleged looting of the municipality during his term as mayor.
Watch: ANC councillor Sbonelo Mthembu predicts his assassination
This video is no longer available.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said they could not disclose the process of their investigation, but said they would not leave any piece of evidence unexamined.
The deceased recorded the video shortly after ANC leader Muzi Manyathi was also gunned down in the area in November last year.
Manyathi, 41, a deputy chairperson of the ANC in the Gert Sibande region and a PR councillor at the Mkhondo local municipality, was killed at a fuel station in Mkhondo.
His concerns were proven correct when he was shot and killed in Mkhondo [Piet Retief], along with Sandile Khumalo, 51, and Sizwe Mbingo, 40.
One of those he accused of planning to kill him has since been arrested.
‘I know I am next’
In the video he posted on Facebook, a visibly agitated Mthembu claimed Motha and current independent Mkhondo local municipality mayor Mthokozisi Simelane were behind the assassination of Manyathi, and that he was next.
“I know you are coming for me next. I want the community to know that when you come for me next, I was killed by Vusi Motha. If I am assaulted by people next, it is Vusi Motha … Anyway, it will not be the first time. You have been doing it all along.
“You fired me and trumped up charges against me that I am [involved] in fraud. Then you came to assault me and shot at me with your friends,” he said in the video.
Motha had previously told News24 that he was in the process of suing Mthembu for R500 000 for defamation, and that his lawyers’ first instruction was to force him to remove the video from social media and settle the matter out of court.
Earlier, in April 2021, Mthembu, claimed in a Facebook post that Motha and his taxi rank friends assaulted him because he did not support his ANC faction, nicknamed ‘Ngqi’. He posted pictures of his damaged car as evidence of the attack.
In the post, the deceased wrote: Sgemegeme vusi motha… you are not a leader but a thug. You first fired me from work [because] l don’t support your ngqi group. Izolo [yesterday] you assaulted me with your rank friends. #Focus waya waya [all the way] uthanda ungathandi [like it or not]. Someone please help [because] even policeman are on his payroll (sic).”
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Ex-mayor in custody
Motha and Willington Sangweni, a security company owner, have since been arrested, but neither have yet been charged with murder.
Motha has been charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm and Sangweni was charged with fraud, Contravention of the Firearm Control Act and Contravention of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority [Psira] Act.
They duo appeared in the Piet Retief Magistrate’s Court this week and were remanded in custody pending their formal bail application next Tuesday.
Motha, a seemingly feared character in the area, has been accused of being a gangster as far back as 2018, after three people were killed during community protests against him.
A community member told the SABC how he was attacked, his house petrol-bombed, and of death threats by Motha, after he had raised issues of corruption during a community meeting.
Third suspect freed
The police suffered a major setback on Thursday when the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) refused to enrol the docket for the first appearance of the third suspect arrested in connection with the murder for lack of evidence.
The suspect, from uMbumbulu in KwaZulu-Natal, was taken in for questioning on Tuesday and subsequently charged with murder, but had to be released.
“The prosecutor has instructed us to go and get sufficient evidence so that the [docket] can be enrolled. It is not all lost from the side of the police. We have information that we are [following]. As soon as we add the dots on what we are missing we will definitely re-arrest the suspect and bring him to court,” Mohlala explained.
He said they were adamant that they arrested the right suspect but will follow the prosecution’s instruction and bring the docket back to court.
Empty promises
On Wednesday ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula visited the area and called on police to investigate the spate of political assassinations in the province.
Mbalula also visited the families of the deceased and said he was impressed with the progress made by police in arresting the suspects.
He conceded that the ruling party should take some of the blame for the political assassinations, admitting that the ANC has been infiltrated by criminal elements.
His visit followed that of Police Minister Bheki Cele, his deputy Cassel Mathale, police commissioner General Fannie Masemola as well as Mpumalanga premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane on Monday.
The minister was heavily criticised for failing to keep the promise to deal with the assassinations back in 2018.
Premier Mtsweni-Tsipane said there have been at least 12 political assassinations in the province since 2009.
“We need to work hard to resolve them and help the bereaved families to find closure. It is only when killers have been sentenced that the families can find closure,” she said in a statement.
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