Man offered cash to kill soap stars

Published Sep 3, 1999

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Alan Cooper, Sally Scott and Ismail Suder.

A man claiming to have been hired to kill cast members of the popular soap opera, Generations, has turned himself in to the police.

The 22-year-old man presented himself at the SABC broadcasting centre in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, last night with a sensational claim.

He told reporters that he was promised R70 000, a town house and a car if he killed several Generations actors.

Generations publicist Sandile Ngidi confirmed on Friday that "an individual did approach Brixton police alleging that he had been given a certain amount of money to kill Generations actors".

"But this individual has not been cooperating with the police and I cannot confirm the bona-fides of these claims at the moment."

Captain Donald Dlamini, of the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit, said he was unable to comment on whether the man in custody was cooperating.

However, he said Inspector Mark Reynolds of the Brixton police would issue a statement today.

Police Captain Jakes van Niekerk confirmed that the man said he knew Florence Masebe's attackers and now feared for his life. He claimed he had turned down an offer to kill Masebe and fellow Generations actors Carol Mogale, Fezile Mpela and Sello Maake ka-Ncube.

Earlier this week police denied press claims that the actors were on a hit list.

Masebe (27) had said at the time that she could not understand why "someone would want to do this to me".

The glamorous actress and SABC-2 presenter had a series of operations to remove bullets and repair wounds, after her attacker fired between six and eight rounds at her car outside her Bramley Park home in Sandton on August 18.

She was wounded in the arms and legs.

Police counted up to 26 bullet holes in her car.

Masebe, who plays the part of Thembi Moyo in Generations, apparently noticed a Jetta car following her two days before the shooting.

It was alleged that the same car tried to run her off the road a day before the attack.

During her recovery in hospital, the star was overwhelmed by hundreds of messages of support, including one from former president Nelson Mandela.

At the time, detectives said they were following leads that were "sensitive".

After a Sunday newspaper published the name of the hospital where she was recovering, she was moved to a secret location for fear that the gunman would attack again.

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