Inside the ANC murders: witness testifies to threats in Durban
A State witness has told the Durban High Court that an ANC murder-accused member threatened to kill them, just before a candidate of Ward 101 and another member of the party were gunned down in October 2021.
The witness, whom we cannot name for security reasons, told the court that on national registration of votes in 2021, they were at a hall in Cato Crest when she received threats from Nkosinathi Emmanuel Ngcobo.
Ngcobo, Sandile Mzizi, Mkhipheni Mzimuni Ngiba, the former councillor of Ward 101, Sifiso Vincent Mlondo, and Phathesakhe Ngiba are charged with the murders of Siyabonga Mkhize and Mzukisi Nyanga.
This ward was home to two ANC groups in 2021. Unity and Continuity (U&C) and Renewal Rebuilding Unity (RRU) were the names of the two. While the accused belonged to RRU, Mkhize and Nyanga were members of the U&C faction. Siyabonga Sibisi was the ward candidate of choice for the accused.
The community supported Mkhize as the ANC’s ward candidate in Ward 101, meaning that he would overthrow Ngiba, who had served as a councillor in this ward for about 12 years, should the ANC win the ward in the November 2021 local government elections.
The witness told the court that after Mkhize had been endorsed as the ward candidate, he had to go and sign with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) at Moses Mabhida. She said when they got there, they were shocked to see Sibisi.
She added Mkhize’s name was not on the voters roll. “We decided to check on the IEC voters roll on our cellphone, and we discovered that Mkhize was (listed as) deceased,” she said.
The witness, who would sometimes get emotional while on the stand, said on the day when people were coming to the Cato Crest hall to check if their names were on the voters roll, she was called by Ngiba to his car, and he offered her Jameson whiskey.
She said they sat in Ngiba’s car as they used to hang around. “After a few minutes, Ngcobo came to us,” she said.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Lawrence Gcaba asked the witness if they had any discussion with Ngiba before Ngcobo arrived.
She said Ngiba told her that he heard that if Mkhize’s name was not going to appear, they (U&C) were going to vote for another political party.
She said she laughed and told Ngiba that they had been in the ANC for too long and they would not vote for another political party.
Moreover, she said Ngcobo asked her if she took politics personally.
“I told him that I was not taking politics personally. He said if it’s not personal, why did we not vote for Siyabonga Sibisi? I could not get a chance to respond as he kept on talking,” she added.
He said since we were supporting Mkhize, we were full of nonsense.
“He said he heard that we say bad things about him when we are with Mkhize. He said he can kill us all in 30 minutes,” she explained.
She said Mlondo reprimanded Ngcobo, who did not listen.
The witness further said on October 15, the day Mkhize and Nyanga were killed, she found Mlondo and Ngcobo at the crime scene, as the taxi dropped her there.
The matter continues.
nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za