Ex-mayor a murderer

796 16.07.2012 Former Rustenburg mayor Matthew Wolmarans(R) and his co �accused former bodyguard Enoch Matshaba(L), are found guilty of murdering former Rustenburg councilor Moss Phakoe at Mafikeng High court sitting in Rustenburg. Picture: Itumeleng English

796 16.07.2012 Former Rustenburg mayor Matthew Wolmarans(R) and his co �accused former bodyguard Enoch Matshaba(L), are found guilty of murdering former Rustenburg councilor Moss Phakoe at Mafikeng High court sitting in Rustenburg. Picture: Itumeleng English

Published Jul 17, 2012

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A former Rustenburg mayor and his bodyguard have been found guilty of killing corruption and fraud whistle-blower and town councillor Moss Phakoe three years ago.

Delivering his judgment in the Mafikeng High Court, sitting in Rustenburg on Monday, Judge Rodney Hendricks said he had accepted witness testimony that Matthew Wolmarans, 43, the current Speaker for the Rustenburg municipality, had hired his mayoral bodyguard, Enoch Matshaba, 40, to kill Phakoe, 52.

On Monday, Judge Hendricks said he had “no hesitation” in accepting the testimony of Freddie Mashele, who fingered Matshaba in the shooting. The judge said although Mashele had only made his statement to the police two-and-half years after the murder due to sickness and hospitalisation, he accepted his testimony as reliable.

 

Phakoe, a Cosatu leader and ANC councillor who served under Wolmarans, was gunned down in the driveway of his Rustenburg North home on March 14, 2009. He was found with two bullet wounds to his head and his body slumped over the steering wheel of his car.

The killing took place a mere two days after Phakoe had handed over a dossier containing allegations of corruption and fraud within the Rustenburg municipality to former co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Sicelo Shiceka.

The allegations implicated Wolmarans.

The court said Wolmarans was present when the dossier was handed over, and Phakoe was heard to say afterwards: “This could be my last day”.

Judge Hendricks referred to testimony by State witness and Rustenburg councillor Alfred Motsi that before Shiceka received the dossier on March 12, 2009, Phakoe also had forwarded the information to top ANC leaders, including Zuma and secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.

A dejected-looking Wolmarans stood next to Matshaba in the dock on Monday as Judge Hendricks stated that contrary to a claim he had made in court that he had a friendly relationship with Phakoe, they were not on good terms. The judge said the two were rivals in political factions and that their relationship was described as being “turbulent”.

Judge Hendricks said testimony that Wolmarans was informed after Phakoe’s killing that the “job has been done”, coincided with his own statement that he received news of the murder while in a meeting with Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa the same evening.

 

“It’s strange, because you claim you had a friendly relationship with the deceased, (but) you were not welcomed by his family when you went to his house.”

 

Sitting in the public gallery, right behind the two accused dressed neatly in black suits, Phakoe’s daughter, Tshepiso Phakoe, 26, wept uncontrollably after the court was adjourned. She later said her family, including her brother Tlholo, 27, and sister Karabo, 30, welcomed the verdict.

“We’re hoping for a severe sentence and hopefully a life imprisonment for the two men who have robbed us of a loving father in such a cruel manner,” Tshepiso said.

Monday’s proceedings saw two large groups of supporters clad in ANC colours, one supporting Phakoe and the other Wolmarans, pledging their support through song and placards.

 

 

The former mayor, who had been out on R50 000 bail, spent Monday night in prison with Matshaba, who had been denied bail.

 

Court proceedings were expected to resume on Tuesday, with argument in mitigation and aggravation of sentence.

The verdict comes as politically related murders involving ANC members seem to be on the rise.

In a recent incident, Hibiscus Coast councillor Wandile Mkhize was gunned down near his home on June 30 after returning from the ANC’s Midrand policy conference.

Mkhize and fellow councillor Nhlakanipho Ntshangase were walking along a road in Margate when they were shot at. Mkhize died at the scene, while Ntshangase sustained critical injuries.

Other killings include that of eThekwini regional secretary Sbu Sibiya and ANC eThekwini regional executive committee member Wiseman Mshibe.

The murder of ANC leaders appears to be politically motivated, linked to infighting over postings and access to state resources.

Last month Owen Camagu, of KwaDwesi, was gunned down in the Eastern Cape. According to the Eastern Cape SACP, Camagu was at “the forefront of a persistent and fearless fight against corruption”.

There have also been reports of political murders in North West and Mpumalanga.

Faction fights between supporters of President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, with regard to the next tenure of the ANC presidency, were reported in Limpopo during the Mandela lecture last week.

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The Star

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