WeeklySA_AdminSIEGE: From mob killings and political assassinations to threatened judges and frightened prosecutors, recent events raise an unsettling question: is South Africa becoming a country where criminals are increasingly in control?
By Sekola Sello
In the days before the establishment of the Government of National Unity, the popular criticism levelled at the ruling ANC was that it had allowed South Africa to become a crime scene.
This accusation was made against the ANC because of the high levels of corruption, violent crimes and frightening rape statistics.
The ANC has always conceded that crime is at unacceptable levels, but denies that the country as a whole has become a crime scene.
I will not bore the readers of this column with the details of the crime statistics, which the South African Police Service provides to the public each quarter of the fiscal year, the latest scheduled for release today, suffice to say they are as appalling as they are bone-chilling.The grim reality of crime came into my radar because of four incidents which occurred in the past few days.
I read about two homicide cases in the Eastern Cape and North West provinces as well as how one judge is living under protection by police – even in his courtroom. Then, there is the intriguing case of a prosecutor who failed to turn up at a bail application hearing relating to an extortion trial in Mpumalanga.
In the Eastern Cape, a 75-year-old woman, Umakhulu Nokhansala Sidiki, from a village in Ngcobo, was killed by two women aged 26 and 28 years old. They assaulted her with a plank and drowned her in a nearby stream. It is said the deceased had strangulation marks. She was accused of engaging in witchcraft practices.
The killing of our elderly mothers has become too common in provinces such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Such barbarity cannot be allowed to continue. The only way to deal decisively with this scourge is the imposition of long prison sentences.
For far too long our courts have treated those accused of such brutal acts – usually a mob – very leniently. If 10 or more people must be given maximum sentences as collective punishment, so be it.
On Monday, May 18, a human rights activist from North West was shot multiple times, according to sources familiar with the slaying of 43-year-old Thato Molosankwe.
Judge threatened
I also came across a video on Tiktok, where Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng claims that threats have been made against his life. Mokgoatlheng is presiding over the murder trial of former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates’ captain Senzo Meyiwa.
Mokgoatlheng is now under constant police guard even in his court room. He says five security people protect him.
The killing of Molosankwe has sent shockwaves in the province, but particularly in and around Mahikeng, where he was regarded as an outspoken champion in the fight against gender-based violence. He was also vocal about corruption by government officials. His voice has now been silenced.
The provinces of KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga are notorious for politically motivated killings. The Eastern Cape has also had its share of such killings, but not to the extent of the two I have mentioned. It is rare to see such killings in North West.
If a relatively quiet province such as North West can have a high profile figure killed, the country should be worried that this problem could be spreading countrywide. It is too early to know what could be the motive behind his killing of Molosankwe. At the time of writing this column, no arrests had been made. One can only pray and hope that a breakthrough will be made soon.
Given that local government elections are six months’ away, I don’t think it is outside the realm of probability to surmise that the killing could be linked to the coming elections.
I have full confidence that Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and his team will crack this one. The brazen manner in which the killing was reportedly carried out in the village of Lomanyaneng –about eight kilometres outside Mahikeng – could well prove to be the undoing of the killers.
The murders of Makhulu Sidiki and Molosankwe are abhorrent .The fact that Judge Mokgoatlheng is guarded by police even in his court is worrisome. But it is the non-appearance of a prosecutor at a criminal case which sends a cold shiver
Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni
On 17 May, Advocate Mkhuseli Ntaba failed to show up at the trial of taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni. Ntaba was to hear the bail application of Sibanyoni and his three co – accused.
It was later claimed by the National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi that Ntaba said he felt unsafe.
The National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago says it is the first time in the history of the 30-year-old organisation that they were faced with such a situation, where a case was struck off the roll because of the non-appearance of a prosecutor who felt unsafe in hearing a bail application.
Mothibi has promised to enrol the case again as soon as possible.. This is how serious the case is considered by the State.
No one must be misled by the fact the bail hearing is scheduled to take place in some one-horse town in Mpumalanga. This is just a bail hearing. When the heating proper starts, it will be heard at a High Court in Mbombela.
Sibanyoni has already shown how serious he takes the case by engaging the services of former NDPP head Advocate Shaun Abrahams. Although the charges are extortionate, I suspect it could open a can of worms, which may implicate very senior police officers and politicians.
Sibanyoni is the president of the South African Long Distance Association. An innocent position if you ask me. But, Sibanyoni is much, much more than that. Unconfirmed reports claim he is one of the richest taxi owners in the country, with a fleet of more than three hundred minibuses, a fleet of buses and a truck logistics company. It is estimated that his businesses take in about a monthly revenue of R18 million. His wealth is estimated at about R300 million.
There are claims – again unconfirmed – that he has taken the mantle of deceased taxi boss Jotham “Mswazi” Msibi. The latter was said to be feared in underworld circles and that politicians deferred to him.
While it is claimed that Sibanyoni is feared in the taxi industry, it is unknown whether he has any relations with politicians.
The decision to strike the case off the roll because the Prosecutor felt unsafe has all the ingredients of a Mafia plot. Did Ntaba get visitors that made him an offer he couldn’t refuse? The rumour-mill is full of this speculation.
Poor Ntaba, it is speculated he had to choose between his life, that of his family or his career. I have written in this column of the many people who were rubbed out in Mpumalanga and their killers have never been found.
Madlanga inquiry
Jimmy Mohlala. Sammy Mpatlanyane and James Nkambule are among the most prominent. Hillary Gardee, the daughter of Economic Freedom Fighters deputy president Godrich Gardee was also amid reports that police have tried to botch the investigation.
We have heard at the Madlanga Commission how some very senior police officers are suspected of being in cahoots with underworld figures. Mkhwanazi has also accused some police officers including members of the judiciary of colluding with criminals. He had promised to reveal the identities of these people.
Now, an apparently honest prosecutor is reported to be scared and fearing for his life and risks sanctions by his employers or losing his job. This shows that criminals are getting more powerful. More dangerous. South Africans must be worried.
The Madlanga Commission has indicated that it is going to investigate the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality . There are growing calls that it must extend its scope of operations to include all metros countrywide.
Land invasion
At a personal level, in the small suburb where I have lived for the past 34 years, our arcadian bliss is disappearing. When I first arrived at the place, there were hectares and hectares of unoccupied land and smallholdings. One resident of the suburb, a certain Hanekom, even had antelopes on his smallholding which was near his residential property.
Government built RDP houses. and then land invasion later followed. We now have a small shackland nearby
Since then, an increasing number of households are now displaying signs of ADT security plaques on their walls. Meanwhile, my son has implored me to get guard dogs. Residents are now discussing various security measures, including patrols and boom gates.
In the light of the seemingly unstoppable barbaric killings of elderly women in some rural parts of our country by mobs, the apparent political killing in the hitherto tolerant province such as North West, the temporary collapse of a criminal case, in what appears to have all the hallmark of a Mafia-inspired incident, and a judge being under police guard, can we still dismiss the accusation that we are now a crime scene?
Or are we burying our collective heads in the sand, hoping that the problems will go away.
Sekola Sello is a retired and independent veteran journalist
