Two EFF members in Thembisa on the east of Johannesburg were fatally shot execution-style allegedly by the bodyguards of the wife of a pastor while another member of the organisation was found murdered in Roodepoort at the weekend.
Cliff Rathelele and Amos Ndlovu were killed at Ivory Park when they tried to resolve a land dispute between a local pastor and an unknown owner of a crèche on Sunday.
Rest in power Fighter Cliff pic.twitter.com/TsWiFbYHR3
— TYRONE MKANSI 🇿🇦 (@Tyrone_Mkansi) December 7, 2022
The day before, Sbonelo “Boss G” Thabethe was also found dead and covered in a pool blood near Kagiso, a township on the west rand.
In the two memos he circulated to party members on Wednesday, EFF regional chairperson in Johannesburg, Sepetle Raseruthe, said Rathelele and Ndlovu, together with their branch secretary Itumeleng Ramokganami, were called to a meeting to mediate in a dispute between the man of cloth and the principal at Ikukhanya Day Care Centre.
At the centre of the dispute, states the memo, was the pastor’s alleged intention to hijack the land on which the daycare centre is erected.
Raseruthe alleged that the pastor did not arrive for the meeting, but his wife, together with two bodyguards, showed up. Raseruthe further alleged that the “hitmen” drew their firearms and pointed them at Ndlovu and Rathelele.
“Cliff managed to grab one of the hitmen, but the second hitman shot him from the back three times [sic]. When Ndlovu saw a fellow fighter down, he wanted to assist, that was when he [also] got shot,” reads the memo.
“The pair were shot and killed execution-style while trying to defuse an altercation between the pastor and members of the community. Fighter Rathelele and fighter Ndlovu lost their lives while wearing the EFF regalia, as they were busy with groundwork for the organisation.”
Raseruthe said the clergyman and his wife were arrested and detained at the Ivory Park police station holding cells.
In the second memo, Raseruthe said Thabethe was found dead on Saturday.
“Boss G, as he was affectionately known in the organisation, passed away in the early hours of December 3 2022. It is believed that he was murdered. The intention of his murder is still unknown and the perpetrators are still at large.”
The organisation’s regional spokesperson in Johannesburg, Tiyiselani Chauke, confirmed the murders and appealed to EFF members to exercise restraint in the face of provocation.
Ivory Park police spokesperson Ben Matimule could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing, as his phone rang unanswered. His comment will be added to the story when it is received.
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