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Murder-accused mayor cut off
16/08/2007 12:02 - (SA)
By Sydney Masinga
Secunda - The African National Congress (ANC) has officially suspended the executive mayor of Govan Mbeki municipality, Sipho Nkosi, who has been implicated in the murder of his deputy, Thandi Mtsweni.
Nkosi is charged with both murder and conspiracy to commit murder after it was alleged that he paid R30 000 for the hit on Mtsweni.
Mtsweni was gunned down in front of her husband and 14-year-old son outside their house in Leslie on June 27. She had been investigating tender irregularities at the time.
The Provincial Working Committee (PWC) of the ANC in Mpumalanga made the decision to suspend Nkosi, without pay, during an ordinary meeting at the Govan Mbeki municipality in Secunda on Monday.
"We view the allegations against the executive mayor as very serious and support all the legal process to speedily bring the matter to its logical conclusion," said provincial ANC spokesperson, Paul Mbenyane.
He stressed that the party believed Nkosi was innocent until proven guilty, however.
He said the mayor would be suspended pending the outcome of the court case.
He said the PWC would deploy someone else as deputy mayor of Govan Mbeki on Monday.
The new deputy mayor will also act as mayor in Nkosi's absence.
Mbenyane said if any other ANC councillors were implicated in the assassination, they would also be suspended without pay pending the court outcome.
The party will also subject the mayor and any other implicated party members to an internal disciplinary process once the court cases are finalised.
Mbenyane urged the local community to remain calm and trust the legal process.
The mayor is scheduled to appear in the Evander Magistrate's Court on Friday.
His co-accused, building contractor Sdudla Florence Lukhele, will appear on August 21. Four suspected hitmen will also be tried in the Evander courts.
None of the accused has been asked to plead to charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and all are in custody.
- African Eye
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