'I played dead after I was shot in the head'

IFP Gauteng secretary Alco Ngobese has told how he played dead after he was shot in the head by assailants who pumped 12 bullets into party MP Khethamabala Petros Sithole on Saturday, killing him instantly.

Speaking to Sowetan from his hospital bed on Tuesday, Ngobese recalled how he, Sithole, 68, and another IFP member, Sambulo Nxumalo, were standing outside a tent where the party had gathered for a branch launch at Buyafuthi Hostel in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, when they were approached by two young men.

Nxumalo was shot in the chest and remains in hospital.

Eyewitnesses who spoke to Sowetan revealed how the killers had been hanging around the area since Wednesday, just three days before the brazen shooting, which happened at about 3.30pm.

They are believed to be from Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

Ngobese’s family is now living in fear.

“We were just confronted by the unknown men who pointed firearms at us. I saw two of them. They had not covered their faces. There could have been more [shooters], I don’t know,” Ngobese said.

“I was shot in the head, but the bullet came out. After I was shot, I took cover and pretended to be dead in fear of being finished off.”

Ngobese said the IFP suspected that this was a targeted assassination because nothing was taken from either of them.

“We were not expecting something like this to happen. We don’t know the reason behind the shooting. They shot at us, but there was a huge group of people outside the venue. There were even young children.

“I fear for my life because I don’t know if these people will come back and finish me off,” Ngobese said.

Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said no arrests had been made and investigations were continuing.

Sithole’s uncle, who asked not to be named out of fear for his safety, said the incident happened a few metres away from where he had been standing.

“I just heard gunshots. I then asked, ‘Who has been shot?’ and was told it was my nephew. When I came closer to the scene, I realised that he [Sithole] was already dead. I had to close his eyes and take off his watch,” said the uncle.

“I don’t know why my nephew had to be killed in such a violent manner because he was a peaceful man and a peacemaker. I believe he was targeted. If they were shooting at everyone [at the event], why was he the only one who was killed?

“Sithole was not one to just hang around anywhere. Even [him] coming to the hostel was not known to anyone but the organisers. Just a year ago, we buried his second wife, and now he, too, is gone.”

Eyewitnesses said the killers came from the direction of an informal settlement near the hostel.

“They casually walked towards the tent, and then we heard gunshots. Before we knew it, three men were down,” an eyewitness said

“One of them [Sithole] was dead. Even after the shooting, the killers did not run. They walked back towards the informal settlement, making various stops and looking back at the scene.”

Another eyewitness said the men were not from the area but had been seen hanging around a local shisanyama and tavern three days before the shooting.

“Some of the residents know who these killers are because they were hanging around with them. People are scared of talking, because they fear they may be targeted,” he said.

Sithole served as a councillor in Ekurhuleni and a brief stint in the Gauteng legislature from 2009 to 2010.

Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the deputy transport minister and the IFP’s national spokesperson, said Sithole was redeployed to the National Assembly in 2010, where he served with diligence until his passing.

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