Stop saying our leaders were behind killing, ANC warns
Claims about businessman’s murder all lies, says ANC
NORTH West Premier and ANC provincial chairman Supra Mahumapelo had nothing to do with the execution-style assassination of billionaire businessman Wandile Bozwana.
This was the stern order from the ANC in North West to its members who took to social media with insinuations about the possible involvement of provincial leaders, especially Mahumapelo, in the murder.
ANC provincial secretary Dakota Legoete lambasted opposition parties like the DA, EFF and Cope for allegedly linking Mahumapelo to the killing.
Bozwana was killed in a drive-by shooting near the Garsfontein off-ramp on the N1 highway on Friday.
He had been travelling north from Joburg with a female colleague, Mpho Baloyi.
She had been driving when a silver grey BMW M3 pulled up next to the car. A gunman fired at Bozwana in the front passenger seat.
Twelve bullets were fired, and nine of them hit Bozwana.
Baloyi was also hit during the attack but she managed to drive to Menlyn Park shopping centre for help.
They were taken to Netcare Unitas Hospital, where he died from his injuries. She remains in hospital.
The North West ANC was adamant that the insinuations of who was behind the murder were misleading.
“We challenge those who continue to make spurious and unfounded assertions to refrain from feeding the social media but direct that information to the police, as they are the only credible entity working on such information,” said Legoete.
“We want to place it on record that insinuations seeking to opportunistically implicate the ANC provincial government and the provincial chairperson, comrade Supra Mahumapelo, in his capacity as the premier, are just an attempt to besmirch the good name of the ANC in the province.”
He said discredited individuals and organisations in the province were using Bozwana’s death to heighten people’s anger and to canvass for votes before next year’s local government elections.
“We call on members of the ANC to be calm and refrain from making reckless and irresponsible statements in the social media, and any other space, without facts. Drastic steps will be taken against those who misrepresent the ANC on such unofficial platforms,” Legoete said.
Dennis Bloem of Cope said someone in the North West government was overcome with trepidation.
“Now is the time to bring out the lie detector and to do thorough lifestyle audits on the politicians and officials,” he said. “Corruption needs thick curtains. State power is therefore used to keep them closed. There is far too much that is going on in the provincial government of North West that needs to be peeped at behind the curtains.
“Even though people in our country are angry about corruption, it continues unabated. Every day, the ugly and brutal face of corruption, within and outside of the government, manifests itself in some scandal or horror story.”
Bozwana and Mahumapelo had a history of fighting over the provincial government’s issuing of tenders. There were accusations that Mahumapelo was giving tenders to his wife Kule and his associates.
“These battles provide the context in which this assassination should be understood. The assassination shows that the mafia is nested inside as well as outside the government. The corruption stakes are very huge and all the top players in the government and business want their share,” Bloem said.
Legoete said the ANC expressed its condolences to Bozwana’s family and added that the party was confident his killers would be arrested.