Slain Richmond municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole was killed because of his tough stance on corruption and maladministration.
That’s according to Democratic Alliance MP Dean Macpherson.
Sithole was gunned down behind the local police station while en route from the municipal office to the motor licensing bureau. He was shot five times by two men travelling in a maroon Toyota Corolla with a Durban number plate.
It is believed he was without his bodyguards when he was shot through the passenger window of his vehicle.
In a statement issued after Sithole’s shooting on Monday morning‚ Macpherson said it was no secret that Sithole was doing his best to fight corruption and clamp down on wasteful expenditure in the ANC-controlled municipality.
He said Sithole supported the DA’s objection to increasing the number of full time councillors in Richmond who would have been paid R800 000 per year‚ excluding benefits that would have ultimately brankrupted the municipality.
“Due to his tough stance on corruption and maladministration which clearly did not fit the program action of the local ANC‚ Sithole was forced to seek employment elsewhere and was due to take over as municipal manager at Umgeni Municipality on March 13‚” he said.
Macpherson called on co-operative governance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube and her community safety counterpart Mxolisi Kaunda to visit the Richmond Municipality to get to the bottom of this case.
“Should they fail to take appropriate action‚ I will escalate this matter to the national ministers of Cogta and Police‚ Des van Rooyen and Nathi Nhleko‚ for intervention‚” he said.
He also called for Sithole’s killing to be included in the investigations of the commission into KwaZulu-Natal’s “growing political killings.”
Kaunda‚ who rushed to the scene where he addressed shocked residents‚ has urged anyone with information they might have on Sithole’s murder to come forward and share it with the police.
“This is really a disaster because we are all working hard to arrest the scourge of killings in this province but unfortunately they are continuing. I am personally concerned because people are getting killed in Richmond and so far there have been no arrests‚” said Kaunda in a statment.
Dube-Ncube also condemned Sithole’s killing‚ saying his “untimely death has also robbed the province of a young person who had a bright future ahead of him and had a lot to contribute in the development of the sphere of local government”.
NFP provincial chairman Vikizitha Mlotshwa called on Kaunda to make sure that Sithole’s killers were found and punished accordingly.
“This is no longer about political matters or tender benefits only‚ but it is influenced by evil acts. The continuous killings in this province pose a serous concern‚” he said.
KwaZulu-Natal acting provincial commissioner‚ Major General Bheki Langa has set up a task tem to investigate Sithole’s murder which he has strongly condemned.
Langa said the police would not rest until the killers had been arrested. — TMG Digital
Municipal manager killed for crackdown on corruption: DA
Slain Richmond municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole was killed because of his tough stance on corruption and maladministration.
That’s according to Democratic Alliance MP Dean Macpherson.
Sithole was gunned down behind the local police station while en route from the municipal office to the motor licensing bureau. He was shot five times by two men travelling in a maroon Toyota Corolla with a Durban number plate.
It is believed he was without his bodyguards when he was shot through the passenger window of his vehicle.
In a statement issued after Sithole’s shooting on Monday morning‚ Macpherson said it was no secret that Sithole was doing his best to fight corruption and clamp down on wasteful expenditure in the ANC-controlled municipality.
He said Sithole supported the DA’s objection to increasing the number of full time councillors in Richmond who would have been paid R800 000 per year‚ excluding benefits that would have ultimately brankrupted the municipality.
“Due to his tough stance on corruption and maladministration which clearly did not fit the program action of the local ANC‚ Sithole was forced to seek employment elsewhere and was due to take over as municipal manager at Umgeni Municipality on March 13‚” he said.
Macpherson called on co-operative governance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube and her community safety counterpart Mxolisi Kaunda to visit the Richmond Municipality to get to the bottom of this case.
“Should they fail to take appropriate action‚ I will escalate this matter to the national ministers of Cogta and Police‚ Des van Rooyen and Nathi Nhleko‚ for intervention‚” he said.
He also called for Sithole’s killing to be included in the investigations of the commission into KwaZulu-Natal’s “growing political killings.”
Kaunda‚ who rushed to the scene where he addressed shocked residents‚ has urged anyone with information they might have on Sithole’s murder to come forward and share it with the police.
“This is really a disaster because we are all working hard to arrest the scourge of killings in this province but unfortunately they are continuing. I am personally concerned because people are getting killed in Richmond and so far there have been no arrests‚” said Kaunda in a statment.
Dube-Ncube also condemned Sithole’s killing‚ saying his “untimely death has also robbed the province of a young person who had a bright future ahead of him and had a lot to contribute in the development of the sphere of local government”.
NFP provincial chairman Vikizitha Mlotshwa called on Kaunda to make sure that Sithole’s killers were found and punished accordingly.
“This is no longer about political matters or tender benefits only‚ but it is influenced by evil acts. The continuous killings in this province pose a serous concern‚” he said.
KwaZulu-Natal acting provincial commissioner‚ Major General Bheki Langa has set up a task tem to investigate Sithole’s murder which he has strongly condemned.
Langa said the police would not rest until the killers had been arrested. — TMG Digital
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