A man alleged to be one of the hitmen in the assassination of former ANC Youth League leader Sindiso Magaqa is believed to have reached out to a high-ranking politician in an effort to spill the beans.
Sunday World has it on good authority from police and crime intelligence sources that Sibusiso Malusi Ncengwa, who was arrested in connection with Magaqa’s murder, has reached out to the mayor of uMzimkhulu, Jabulile Mzizi-Msiya. Mzizi-Msiya survived the July 13 2017 attack that later claimed Magaqa’s life.
Sunday World can reveal that Mzizi-Msiya notified the police’s political task team about Ncengwa’s attempt to reach out to her.
Ncengwa allegedly told Mzizi-Msiya that he wanted to make a confession statement about his involvement in the assassination plot.
However, Mzizi-Msiya is believed to have expressed reservations about where Ncengwa, who is behind bars, had gotten her contact details.
Sunday World sources close to the situation have disclosed that Ncengwa had told Mzizi-Msiya that if she could not come to see him in prison in person, “we can talk via a video call”.
According to Sunday World sources, some of the detectives in the police unit assembled to track and investigate politically linked killings, rubbished Ncengwa’s desire to confess when Mzizi-Msiya told them about his intention to spill the beans.
“They said he was a liar and he was talking rubbish,” revealed a source with intricate knowledge of the behind-the-scenes goings-on.
The implications of the attempts by Ncengwa to come clean are profound, suggesting a cover-up involving high-ranking police officials in Magaqa’s murder.
Ncengwa was sentenced to 95 years in prison after he was found guilty of armed robbery in March 2022. He is due to appear in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on February 19.
Sunday World reported earlier this month that Magaqa’s assassination was carried out using an AK47 bought with money from a slush fund of the police’s crime intelligence unit.
Further corroboration comes from a police officer who has confirmed that Magaqa’s killer wants to spill the beans. A high ranking police officer told this paper this week that soon after Magaqa’s death, a unit under the crime intelligence division known as counter intelligence investigated the case.
“They concluded that police actively participated in the assassination of Magaqa. The investigation, headed by the investigation team from the crime intelligence head office, handed over a report at head office,” the cop said. The report was allegedly shared with crime intelligence in KwaZulu-Natal, and there are allegations that both the national head office and the provincial office differed about the hypothesis of Magaqa’s alleged attack.
“As a result of different hypotheses it was suggested that the report was supposed to be altered before being handed over to a political killings task team for further investigations,” the senior cop further elaborated.
Mzizi-Msiya declined to comment regarding the claims that the hitman had called her. Instead, she said: “I’m currently handling that with the police. So, I can’t say anything on the media. But at some stage I will come out.”
