Former council Speaker at the Ramotshere Moloia Local Municipality in Zeerust, North West, believes the brutal shooting of the ANC member was a political assassination.
Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - Former council Speaker at the Ramotshere Moloia Local Municipality in Zeerust, North West, believes the shooting of ANC member Ofentse “Choppa” Nkomo was a political assassination.
An independent member of the executive council at the same municipality, councillor Alfred Nyamane told the Pretoria News that if he was still a member of the ANC, he would have been killed.
“There’s nothing new here except the sadness that engulfs the hearts of the grieving families across South Africa who have to now and then mourn their sons and daughters whose only sin was to be vocal at a few ANC meetings.
“The latest developments in Madibeng are just part of a culture within my former party.
“Unlike the deceased member Nkomo, I was lucky to survive an attempt on my life," said Nyamane.
Nyamane said last year he decided to take a stand against his party, when he realised that the leaders were obsessed with money.
“Our people made a decision that it's either their way or the highway.
“When I refused to allow them to take advantage of the taxpayers’ money but opted to focus resources on service delivery they decided it was time that I joined my ancestors.
“That day I was lucky because I left Lekubu village for a meeting in Mahikeng.
“The meeting went into the night so I had no choice but to book accommodation.
“After midnight I received a ‘please call me’.
“When I phoned, neighbours told me that my house had just been burned to the ground.
“I was grateful that I was not at home when it happened,” Nyamane said.
The councillor said when he finally built a new house, he sought help from a security systems installation company, only to discover that the plot to kill him was still in motion.
“I approached the company to install security cameras at my home.
“The guy agreed but kept on not showing up.
“When I finally confronted him he showed me an SMS from an unknown number warning him against helping me.
“The SMS stated that should he help me, his family would be in irreversible danger.
“That’s when I realised I could no longer proudly call myself an ANC member,” he said.
Six months before the local government elections last year, Nyamane was fired from the ANC, but he decided to step down as council speaker, defecting to the local independent Forum 4 Service Delivery, which won a number of seats in the current local government term.
Nyamane warned voters to weigh the current challenges facing ANC members and leaders against realities of poverty and inequality.
“My elders once warned me to leave the ANC and rather become a goat-herder.
“They were correct because in the ANC your own comrades will want you dead for being vocal.
“I have not followed the goat-herding path but I am pursuing the agenda of service delivery for our people.
“We have ANC members approaching us on issues of basic services that their greedy leaders are refusing to provide.
“The community needs to forget liberation history and focus on service delivery reality," he said.
Meanwhile, police are investigating Nkomo’s murder, which took place during an ANC biennial branch general meeting in Mothotlung near Brits on Sunday afternoon.
The ANC in the province said it was saddened by what happened to one of their members.
“The ANC vehemently condemns this barbaric incident with all the disdain it deserves.
“This incident is regrettable as we expect all members of the ANC to conduct meetings in an environment that is pleasant, peaceful and devoid of any form of violence.
“Although the motive behind this attack is unknown at this stage, police investigations are ongoing, we are thunderstruck by this incident because notwithstanding minimal and isolated incidents of violence in our branch general meetings, most of our meetings have been conflict-free," said ANC provincial spokesperson Kenny Morolong.
Pretoria News