A corruption-busting deputy mayor, who was assassinated outside her home in Mpumalanga, is believed to have been killed while investigating suspected housing irregularities.
The execution of Thandi Mtsweni is just the latest in a string of violent incidents linked to corruption in the Govan Mbeki municipality in Secunda in the past five years.
Police confirmed on Thursday that Mtsweni’s probe into the Govan Mbeki Housing Company (GMHC) could be a possible motive for her murder.
”We have known for quite some time that she was busy investigating tender and financial irregularities within the municipality,” said police task team chief superintendent Botsotso Moukangwe. ”We are looking [to see] if there is a link between her probe into the [housing] company and her murder.”
Moukangwe said police had collected strong evidence from the murder scene at Mtsweni’s house, where two gunmen ambushed her as she arrived home with her husband and 14-year-old son. They shot her three times at point-blank range, hitting her in the head, shoulder and leg.
”The evidence is so strong, that we don’t need the help of the National Intelligence Agency or anyone else,” he said.
Moukangwe refused to talk about the housing irregularities, while Govan Mbeki executive mayor Sipho Nkosi and council spokesperson Lucas Mahlangu refused to comment.
Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor James Harris confirmed that Mtsweni made no secret of her probe into the housing company.
The company, which was established as a Section 21 non-profit entity, is supposed to maintain, administer and collect rent from 81 council-owned buildings.
”Mtsweni told a financial portfolio committee meeting that she was investigating the GMHC because it was refusing to present its financial reports to council. GMHC executives had failed to declare their interests. The company had failed to pay for use of council resources and it owed other money to the municipality,” said Harris.
The GMHC was entitled to 13% of rentals collected from the houses it managed, Harris said, but was supposed to pay the rest to the municipality. ”Mtsweni told us that it was failing to do so and that it owed the municipality at least R2-million.”
GMHC chief executive Mmela Mahlangu, who is also a councillor in the municipality, denied any wrongdoing. ”The DA is playing a dangerous game now by speculating that we may have been involved in the death of Mtsweni,” he said.
The GMHC had paid all rentals due to the council and had met all its other legal obligations, Mahlangu said. Harris said: ”Let’s hope that GMHC is ready to supply all that information to the police and other investigation bodies when the time arrives.” — African Eye News Service
A short history of violence in the region
2002: Mayor Mdibanisi Tsheke’s personal assistant, Saul Mkhwebane, commits suicide following questioning about an arson attack on the council’s finance offices. The arson attack was apparently aimed at destroying evidence against senior officials and politicians
2005: Chief financial officer Joshua Ntshuhle goes missing in December 2005 and is presumed dead. He had exposed abuse of then-mayor Mdibanisi Tsheke’s discretionary funds and was about to testify in a fraud and corruption trial against the council’s marketing manager, Sibusiso Sigudla. When former municipal manager Thabo Mafihla refused to rehire Sigudla, Tsheke embarked on a futile battle to fire him, eventually costing the taxpayer R1,7-million.2006: Police start to investigate Tsheke and other politicians for corruption. Travel claim forms, credit and petrol cards, petrol receipts for the mayoral car, cheque books, tender and personnel files and bank statements were seized from Tsheke’s offices. Tsheke was charged with fraud and corruption and the matter is still in court. The ANC leaves Tsheke off its candidate list for the municipal elections.