Former municipal manager re-arrested in Magaqa assassination case

A FORMER senior uMzimkhulu municipality official has been re-arrested in connection with the assassination of Sindiso Magaqa.

The former municipal manager, 55, whose identity can't be revealed at this stage, was arrested on Monday by the Political Killings Task Team in Malvern, Durban.

So far, the 2017 assassination of the former secretary-general of the ANC Youth League has netted three suspects and secured one conviction. 

A hitman, Sibusiso Ncengwa, was arrested and is serving a 25-year jail sentence for the murder after he was sentenced earlier this month. 

When he confessed to the murder, Ncengwa implicated three others in the plot and execution of the murder. 

Sibonelo Myeza and Mbulelo Mpofana will appear in court in October for the murder. One of the suspects, Mlungisi Ncalane, was found to be unfit to stand trial. 

Magaqa was working for the uMzimkhulu Local Municipality when he was assassinated, allegedly for asking too many questions about a tender to renovate the town's memorial hall. 

The project was mired in corruption and was a conspicuous eyesore for the small town despite funds being dispensed. He became a target for assassination after he made plans to expose the corruption.

The 55-year-old former municipal manager is expected to appear in uMzimkhulu Magistrate's Court today.

He was previously arrested in 2018 alongside the late mayor of the uMzimkhulu Local Municipality, Mluleki Ndobe, a businessman, two former police officers, and a hitman.

Ndobe died in November 2020 after apparently succumbing to suicide at his Glenwood home in Durban. He was deputy speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.