'It's a political hit'
2005-03-27 08:10
Matefu Mokoena and Jimmy Seepe
Johannesburg - The "assassination" of a man believed to be the "power behind" Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff was the work of his colleagues in the ANC and government.
This is the widely-held belief by some ANC insiders in the province, and a link that police said they were also looking at, after Noby Ngombane, Marshoff's special adviser, was killed on Tuesday.
Ngombane was shot down by gunmen who pulled into the driveway of his home in Bloemfontein's Hillsboro suburb.
Ngombane was shot when he went to investigate.
The slaying took place as several senior government officials were to be charged with corruption and in which Ngombane was to testify, and a few days before a provincial cabinet reshuffle.
The reshuffle was widely viewed as instigated by Ngombane, in which key people were set to lose their positions.
City Press understands that Ngombane's murder was part of a major plot to destabilise the province and ultimately unseat Marshoff.
It is understood an intelligence report produced before the killing had raised concerns about attempts by an anti-Marshoff faction of the ANC to make the province ungovernable. Senior ANC officials in the province yesterday told City Press that any investigation into Ngombane's death "had to start with the ANC".
Reshuffle
The official who spoke to City Press on condition of anonymity said: "Everybody in the province is fully aware that Noby's killing is related to problems within the organisation.
"The murder is clearly related to decisions he had taken and the pending reshuffling of the provincial cabinet."
The ANC in the province has been beset by bitter internal power battles since the mid-1990s, and Marshoff's appointment by President Thabo Mbeki in June last year was challenged by many ANC leaders in the province.
Impeccable sources told City Press this week that there were principally two reasons for the murder.
First, Ngombane was expected to be the state's key witness in several multi-million rand corruption cases involving senior officials in the department of tourism, environment and economic affairs after investigations he himself had commissioned.
KPMG forensic auditors had produced a scathing report on the basis of which a number of chief directors in the department were to be arrested and charged with fraud and corruption.
Second, Ngombane's death came a day before Marshoff was to announce a cabinet reshuffle which, it is claimed, would have resulted in the axing of a number of top ANC leaders. Free State police spokesperson Inspector Harry Nagel said: "All motives are being investigated and the political motive is not excluded."
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said it would be foolhardy to blame ANC infighting in the Free State for Ngombane's killing. "We do not think the murder emanates from the ANC.
"We would never have an ANC member killing another ANC man," he said.