The three suspects in the death of ANCYL’s Sindiso Magaqa appeared before the magistrate’s court and detailed the plot to kill Magaqa, which dates back to 2016.
The three accused of murdering African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) general secretary Sindiso Magaqa appeared before the Umzimkhulu Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 16 April 2019 and told the court that the plot to kill Magaqa began in October 2016, nine months before he was fatally gunned down.
Sibonelo Myeza, a former cop and now maritime operational manager, Mbulelo Mpofana, a “tenderpreneur”, and Mxolisi Ncalane, also a former cop, told the court how they planned Magaqa’s murder. The trio hired two hitman to carry out the task, who were instructed to execute it on 12 July 2017, a day before Magaqa was gunned down.
The three have also been charged with the attempted murders of councillors Jabu Msiya and Nontsikelelo Mafu, who were with Magaqa in the car on the fatal day.
The three were in court for their bail hearing when these developments were brought to the fore by Warrant Officer Jim Sekano, who is investigating the case. He took the stand to give evidence and provide reasons as to why the accused should be denied bail.
Sekano, who was questioned by senior state advocate Sohana Moodley, informed the court that he had twenty-eight years of service under his belt and had been stationed under the national task team investigating political killings in KwaZulu-Natal since July 2018.
He emphasised that the trio were a flight risk and could interfere with the case by either destroying or hiding evidence not yet uncovered by the police or by intimidating witnesses. He also highlighted that Myeza had hired the two hitmen – Jabulani “Sgoro” Mdunge, who was killed in a foiled cash-in-transit heist last year, and Sibusiso Ncengwa, who was arrested and will appear in the regional magistrate’s court on 24 April 2019, while Mpofana allegedly paid the hitmen.
Just before court broke for lunch, Sekano alleged that the three accused were also likely to have been involved in the deaths of councillors Khaya Thobela and Mduduzi Tshibase, whose murders took place in Umzimkhulu in 2017, just one month apart.
The court was unable to finalise their bail application. The matter is set to resume on Wednesday, 17 April 2019.
Abenathi Gqomo
a.gqomo@politicalanalysis.co.za
