Questions have been raised about the involvement of ANC politicians in Magaqa’s death.
ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Collen Malatji says he is concerned about the alleged involvement of ANC leaders in the killing of the youth league’s former secretary-general, Sindiso Magaqa.
Malatji was at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday, where the court was expected to sentence Sibusiso Ncengwa, one of the hitmen involved in Magaqa’s murder.
Despite much interest in the matter, the sentencing was postponed. Ncengwa admitted to killing Magaqa in 2017.
Malatji told The Citizen that he is concerned that one of the hitmen had indicated that politicians are involved in the death of the former ANC leader.
“The acts of these individuals do not represent what the ANC stands for, which is to build a safe and secure community, where airing out your views about wrongdoing does not lead to you being murdered.
“The implicated individuals in their actions proved that they were not ANC [members] and certainly not leaders, and they must face the harshest sentencing by the court; in fact, they deserve a life sentence, because Comrade Sindiso Magaqa will never come back,” he said.
Big fish involved
Malatji said he believes that there are more serious players behind Magaqa’s murder.
He said the men who have been arrested for Magaqa’s murder are simply hired guns.
“We know that he [Sibusiso] did not work alone; we know that he was a hired gun. The real people we want are those who issued the order that our SG [secretary-general] must be killed.
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“That one there in prison is a small fish; we want the big fish, those ones that worked with everyone and the police to kill our SG,” he said.
A former mayor of the uMzimkhulu municipality and a municipal manager had been arrested in connection with Magaqa’s murder, but they were later released due to insufficient evidence.
Why was Magaqa killed?
Meanwhile, Malatji said Magaqa died fighting for the interests of South Africans. This stems from a belief that Magaqa was in possession of a dossier on corrupt activities at the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality.
“We are expecting nothing but a life sentence because that criminal is a murderer. He does not belong among our people; he is an animal that must rot in jail. If there was still that sentence to kill people, then he must be the first to get killed.”
He said he was outraged by the manner in which Magaqa was gunned down.
“If we could break the law, we could kill him ourselves, but because we are law-abiding citizens, we are saying that this law must make sure that he rots and dies in jail,” he said.
On the other hand, Ncengwa appealed for a lenient sentence in court; one of his reasons for this is that he has apologised to the Magaqa family for their loss.
The court also heard that Magaqa’s family is still struggling to raise the children he left behind.
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