The case against two men accused of conspiring to kill senior African National Congress (ANC) provincial members was adjourned at the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, the National Prosecuting Authority said.
The bail application of Thembile Ceba and Thembinkosi Mapeyi was adjourned and resumes on May 3, said NPA Mthatha spokesperson Luxolo Tyali. The pair remained in custody.
The two men were reportedly arrested by the Hawks and crime intelligence investigators over an alleged plot to kill five ANC leaders, including Eastern Cape provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane and local government minister Mlibo Qoboshiyane, the ANC’s provincial spokesperson.
Disgruntled
They were reportedly suspected of being involved in a plot to kill the ANC leaders, who blocked their preferred candidates from contesting local government positions in the upcoming May 18 polls.
Disgruntled members of the ANC in the Eastern Cape took the party to court over the candidate lists, but were unsuccessful in their bid to block the party from submitting its nominations to the Independent Electoral Commission.
According to reports, both men implicated were employed by the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality mayor, Siyabonga Mlamli. Mlamli was quoted as saying he was “disgusted” that people from his office were linked to the crime.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe on Tuesday said the threats to members in the Eastern Cape would not deter the party from fulfilling its mandate to South Africans.
Mantashe said the hit list showed the “extent to which the situation has deteriorated in the Eastern Cape”.
“As the ANC we will not tolerate unwarranted diversions that are informed by counter-revolutionary agendas,” he said. — Sapa