Durban - Slain Richmond municipal manager Edward Sibusiso Sithole had a tendency to dodge his bodyguards, and when he was ambushed on Monday morning, he had sent his security detail on an errand.
This is according to Richmond Mayor Joe Mchunu following the execution-style shooting of Sithole in full view of pupils from the Richlea Primary School.
Sithole’s murder has renewed fears that Richmond could slide back into the political violence of the early 1990s, where the town was known as the “killing field of KwaZulu-Natal”.
Sithole’s brother, Mluleki, told The Mercury on Monday that Sithole had gone to the Richmond Licensing Department to register his new bakkie when several bullets were fired at him by two unknown occupants of a maroon Toyota sedan.
“Sithole arrived at work with his bodyguards in the morning, and spent a few minutes in his office.
“He sent them (bodyguards) to the ANC offices across the road to fetch certain documents, and after they had left he drove to the testing ground,” said a source.
Mluleki said he was at his home in Richmond on Monday morning when he received a call from a friend to go to the scene.
The vehicle belonging to Richmond municipal manager Edward Sibusiso Sithole at the crime scene. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo
He said when he had last spoken to Sithole they had talked about his next career move.
“We discussed his next move and he told me that he was weighing his options.
"He told me that the community wanted him to stay on in Richmond because he is a local boy who served this community well,” said Mluleki.
Asked if he knew any reason for Sithole to fear for his safety, Mluleki said: “We have heard from those who worked in the municipality that there were conflicts for positions, hence he was allocated two bodyguards,” he said.
But Mluleki said he could not say if this was linked to his brother’s death.
Mchunu said he was concerned for his own safety following the murder “since no one knows the motive”.
“I am shocked because I don’t know why he was killed, and who is next to be targeted.
“The manager was very close me at work, so I don’t know what is happening. I fear for my life, I am shaking,” said Mchunu.
The mayor said although the bodyguards were allocated to him, Sithole and other senior officials following a detailed security assessment by the National Intelligence Agency, no one among them had raised security concerns.
“He never raised concerns about his safety. I also never felt unsafe except that the position I hold needs security,” he said.
Although senior officials at the municipality were on Monday struggling to understand the motive behind the murder, a former municipal councillor said Sithole had developed a reputation of being “tough on corruption”.
“There were cases which were pending. One was at the (vehicle) testing ground, which had been referred to police for further investigation.
“Another one was corruption in the strategic department, which was about to be completed,” said the source.
Another former municipal official said Sithole’s contract with the municipality, which started in 2010, was coming to an end later this month.
“He had been hired at the Umgeni Municipality (in Howick, outside Pietermaritzburg) and was going to start on March 13,” he said.
This was confirmed by Umgeni Municipal spokesman Thanda Mgaga, who said Sithole had been hired as the municipal manager since the municipality had been operating with an acting manager.
Sithole had earned the rural municipality two clean audit reports in the past five years, and “he was recognised as the best municipal manager in KwaZulu-Natal, and he received a premier’s award”.
It was reported in 2014 that Sithole’s office and a memorial hall were set alight, and two petrol bombs were found at the scene.
Police announced on Monday that a task team would investigate the killing.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane said: “A task team has been formed by the KwaZulu-Natal acting provincial commissioner, Major-General Bheki Langa, to investigate the murder of the Richmond municipal manager.”
Mluleki said Sithole had been the family’s breadwinner and had looked after them.
“We just hope the police do their work and arrest the killers,” he said.
Sithole is survived by his wife.