One of the hitmen in the July 2017 killing of former ANC Youth League secretary-general has confessed in a plea submitted to the Pietermaritzburg High Court and implicated senior ANC leaders and municipal officials.
Sibusiso Ncengwa confessed in a plea that is now part of the publicly available court records.
Ncengwa is currently on trial for the case with Mlu (Mlungisi) Ncalane, Sibonelo Myeza, and Mbulelo Mpofana.
Among those Ncengwa implicated is the late Mluleki Ndobe, the former mayor of the Harry Gwala district municipality, who later became the deputy speaker in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
Ndobe committed suicide in November 2020 at his home in Umzimkhulu. The others have not pleaded guilty.
He also implicated a former senior official in the Umzimkhulu municipality, where Magaqa exposed corruption and the runners involved in facilitating the hit.
Among the runners who allegedly transported money is a senior official in eThekwini municipality, said the hitman.
R120K paid for Magaqa’s assassination
According to Ncengwa, they were paid R120 000 to eliminate Magaqa and were told that the rest of the money would come in the form of a tender worth R1-million.
Furthermore, he stated that initially, when they travelled to Umzimkhulu with the intention of killing Magaqa, they retreated upon noticing the police following him.
The group only recorded the registration of Magaqa’s car before returning to Durban.
“While in prison, Mr Zweliphansi [former Mzimkhulu MM] Skosana, Mr Ndobe, Sbo Myeza, Mlu Ncalane, and Mbulelo Mpofana were also arrested.
“That is where I met some of them for the first time, like Mr Ndobe and Mr Skosana. The prison that we met was New Prison, Pietermaritzburg, G Section.
“This is where I discovered that the money Skosana and Ndobe paid was R600 000, which Mpofana and Myeza did not dispute.
“Then Ndobe and Skosana requested that we [do] not fight in prison. Further, Ndobe will pay R500 000 to avoid a fight among us,” he said in the plea.
Sentencing set down for June 30
He claimed that Ndobe said they should not fight in prison, as he was going to provide R500 000 more and that money would be used to pay for legal fees during their trial.
The National Prosecuting Authority in KwaZulu-Natal has confirmed that Ncengwa has pleaded guilty in the matter.
