Western Cape police have arrested two suspects allegedly linked to the murder of ANC MP Edward Njadu’s wife.

Lydia Njadu, 55, was shot in her Beaufort West home on Sunday at around 10pm, said provincial police spokesperson Sgt Christopher Spies.

Spies said provincial police management “assembled a team of detectives led by a senior police officer who descended on Beaufort West and commenced with the investigation”.

Njadu was at home when three armed men arrived, he said. 

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A short conversation ensued before the trio randomly shot at the woman, fatally wounding her.” 

Spies said police swooped on two suspects, aged 30 and 35, early on Wednesday. They both face a murder charge and are set to appear in the Beaufort West magistrate’s court on Wednesday.

“This investigation is at a very early stage and more suspects are expected to be arrested as the police investigation unfolds ,” he said.

Njadu, 56, is former mayor of the Central Karoo district.

This week he told TimesLIVE he was “struggling to find” his feet after the incident. He said he married his wife 32 years ago and they have three children.

“I was not at home at the time,” he said.

“One thing that gives me sleepless nights is not knowing the motive for this (killing). It bothers me a lot. I am struggling with that.”

He said he shuddered when his family narrated the incident.

“I was told three people arrived at my place. One knocked and a family member opened and asked the man for his name. The man said he is Siya,” Njadu said.

“(The family member) asked if he could help him and the man said he is looking for the man of the house. The family member told him I was not home and the man said,  ‘But he was here the whole weekend’. The man told the family member to call my wife. He said there is a message he needed to give her so she can pass it to me.

“My younger children called my wife. When she arrived, the unknown man was standing in the kitchen. The man asked (her) for my number and said the car they were travelling in had broken down outside. The family member who had opened the door went to get my number from his phone. A second man entered the house and started shooting at my wife. The one who was inside also started shooting. A third man entered and also shot at her, according to the family member.”

Njadu said his political career has not been plain sailing and he had to leave his hometown at one stage.   

“I have been a politician for a very long time. I served in the ANC provincial executive committee for four terms. I also served as mayor of the Central Karoo district municipality, I served as a ward councillor and as a regional secretary for two terms. I served as a regional organiser. There were political dynamics at the time,” he said.

“There was turmoil in 2019 when I became an MP. My office was shut down. I was relocated out of the region to Eerste River in Cape Town but Pemmy Majodina (ANC chief whip)  sent me back. A day before I was sworn in, my caucus did not support me. Those are the developments that happened. I don’t know where this is coming from now. I don’t have a driver, I have no protection. I am on my own.”

Njadu said his children who had witnessed their mother’s killing are undergoing counselling. His wife will be buried on Saturday.

TimesLIVE