Thabiso Zulu's vindication: Hitman's confession reveals state involvement in Magaqa's assassination

A prominent anti-corruption activist, Thabiso Zulu, who was also Sindiso Magaqa's close friend, says he is vindicated by the revelation of the state’s hand in the murder of the former ANC Youth League leader.

Last week, in his confession under oath in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, the hitman, Sibusiso Ncengwa, revealed shocking details about the role played by the SAPS’s Crime Intelligence Unit members in the planning and execution of the killing in 2017.

Ncengwa, businessman Mbulelo Mpofana, former policeman Sibonelo Myeza, and Mlungisi Ncalane were arrested in 2018 and charged with Magaqa’s murder, who, at the time, was an ANC councillor in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality..

The hitman disclosed the chilling SAPS involvement in the murder as well as the role played by National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) officials in ensuring the case's demise.

He also named the late Harry Gwala District Municipality mayor, Mluleki Ndobe, and former Umzimkhulu Local Municipality manager, Zweliphansi Skhosana, as the masterminds, who paid just over a million rand for a hit on Magaqa.

Detailing the police’s role, Ncengwa said that, using its slush funds, the police bought the AK-47 that they used to kill Magaqa. He also said they bought a Mercedes-Benz that was used to travel to Umzimkhulu and Durban.

He said the police also ensured that no police members would arrest them on their way to Durban on the day of the shooting of Magaqa by escorting their vehicle, adding that the police officer who escorted them was paid R20,000. 

The hitman provided details about the NPA's involvement, stating that he would have confessed long ago if the agency hadn't attempted to stop him.

He told the police officer in 2019 that he wanted to confess, but the NPA dismissed the prosecutor because it believed he would permit the confession, especially the one that implicated the police.

The State accepted Ncengwa's guilty plea and would be sentenced at the end of the month.

Reacting to the revelation, Zulu said he was not surprised and felt vindicated when he saw the hitman’s confession because it was the same information he had gone public with.

“This is the same information I publicly revealed after the killing and even went to the Moerane Commission with. I always maintained that Magaqa was assassinated by the state, so the hitman’s confession vindicates me,” said Zulu

Magaqa’s family spokesperson Dr Lwazi Magaqa said the family is in a bereavement for another death and was not able to speak about the matter for now.

Dr Lwazi Magaqa, a spokesperson for the Magaqa family, stated that the family is grieving the loss of another member and is unable to discuss the situation at this time.

The NPA and the SAPS are yet to comment on their alleged involvement.

Speaking on a TV interview on Monday night, Zulu called for the arrest of all the people named by the hitman in his confession.

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