Businessman Sandile Majali was persecuted because of his selfless contributions to the ANC, his friend and ANC national executive member Ngoako Ramatlodi said on Thursday.
“Sandi is an example of what public opinion can do to an individual,” Ramatlodi said at Majali’s memorial service at the Bryanston Methodist Church, northern Johannesburg.
“He was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.”
Ramatlodi said Majali’s sin had been supporting the ANC and being successful in business.
“There are people who wish to be here, but they are scared that they will be judged in the court of public opinion. They cry silently in their corners,” Ramatlodi said.
Describing Majali as a comrade and brother, Ramatlodi said he hoped that Majali had died of natural causes.
Found dead
The 48-year-old Majali was found dead in his room at the Sandton Quatermain Hotel in Johannesburg on Sunday morning. On Monday, his lawyer John Ngcebetsha said it was highly unlikely that Majali’s death was a suicide.
At the service, Ramatlodi said the ANC was not ashamed to be associated with Majali. This was despite the party’s refusal to comment on Majali’s passing.
Members of the Majali family attending the memorial service were greeted by photographers’ flashlights and television cameras as they entered the Bryanston Methodist Church.
The memorial was attended by senior members of the ANC, including Ramatlodi, Billy Masetla, deputy Minister of Tourism Thokozile Xasa and KwaZulu-Natal-based Peggy Nkonyeni.
Majali’s uncle, Zamukulungisa Dlani, hailed Majali as a helpful person to his family and also to the community of Port St Johns.
“The stories that we hear about him are strange and new to us and we know that he is innocent,” said Dlani.
He also praised Majali for being a humble and respectful man, who always gave his time for others.
Majali was arrested in October 2010 by the South African Police Service’s commercial crimes unit for alleged fraud and was released on bail.
This was after the directorship of mining company Kalahari Resources was changed from Brian Amos Mashile and his sister Daphne Mashile-Nkosi to a group of eight people including Majali.
The two siblings had to bring an urgent interdict before the High Court in Johannesburg to get themselves reinstated as directors of the company.
Majali was due to appear in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court again on January 18. — Sapa