Former Mkhondo mayor Vusi Motha granted bail on arms-related charges

The embattled former mayor of Mkhondo in Mpumalanga, Vusi Motha, with his co-accused Wellington Sangweni, who are both facing charges related to Firearms Control Act, were granted bail by the Mkhondo magistrate's court on Tuesday. 

According to Mpumalanga NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, Motha was granted bail of R50,000 while Sangweni was released on R20,000 bail.

The two were released on bail on condition that they attend the court proceedings until the matter is finalised, failing which, their bail money will be forfeited to the state. They were also ordered not to interfere with the investigation and witnesses.

“Motha was further instructed to report to the Mkhondo police station twice a week, every Monday and Friday between 6am and 6pm,” Nyuswa said.

The matter was postponed to April 24 for further investigations.

The arrests of the two men followed the murder of the second ANC councillor in less than four months.

In January, councillor Sibonelo Mthembu Ntshangase was shot, together with his friend and fellow ANC member Sizwe Mbingo and Sandile Khumalo, in Longhomes township outside Mkhondo. 

On November 4 2022, “Ramaphosa faction man” and ward councillor Muzi Manyathi, 41, was shot dead at a local service station.

The evening of Manyathi’s murder, Ntshangase posted a live video on social media saying, among other things, that if he should ever be murdered, “people must know Sigemegeme is the killer”.

Sigemegeme is Motha’s nickname.

At the time, Nyuswa told Sunday Times that “Motha is facing a charge of being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and Sangweni is facing a charge of contravention of the firearms act.”

The accused are charged separately.

TimesLIVE