Hawks say Sindiso Magaqa’s autopsy results won’t be made public

The Hawks have reportedly confirmed that the autopsy results of slain former ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa have been completed, but will not be made public.

Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, the spokesperson for the priority crimes unit, on Wednesday said it was up to Magaqa’s family to decide if they wanted to make the results public amid allegations the Umzimkhulu municipality councillor could have been poisoned after he complained about stomach pains.

Magaqa, 35, was recovering at Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban after he was shot and wounded in an apparent ambush on July 13 along with two other ANC councillors near his home in Ibisi‚ a village in southern KwaZulu-Natal.

“I can confirm that the postmortem was conducted today [Wednesday]. Generally, we do not know when the results will come back. However‚ when they do‚ we will only relay that to the family, and it is up to them to decide what to do with the information‚” Mulaudzi told TimesLIVE.

Mulaudzi told the news website the Hawks would have an interest in the autopsy findings after a case of murder was opened.

“We have an active docket with all other relevant details‚ and when the [autopsy] results come back they will also be put in the docket‚” he said.

Magaqa was well-known as the secretary-general of the ANCYL before it was disbanded in 2012 after its leadership, under then league president Julius Malema, was found guilty of bringing the ANC into disrepute.

His death on Monday night after a month in hospital sent shockwaves across the political spectrum amid the ongoing Moerane Commission of Inquiry into the spate of political killings in KZN.

At least five councillors are reported to have been murdered in Umzimkhulu, southern KZN, since the beginning of this year. Magaqa’s supporters have linked the murders to corruption at the municipality and an upcoming conference in the Harry Gwala region.

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