ANC candidate councillor warned not to go out on the day of her murder - Moerane Commission hears
17 October 2017
Durban – An ANC candidate councillor from the Ukhahlamba Region in Ladysmith was shot with a high caliber rifle in broad day light on Mandela Day while on her way to distribute blankets at a local stadium, the Moerane Commission heard on Tuesday.
Khanyisile Ngobese-Sibisi was also tipped to become a deputy mayor in the Ladysmith Municipality, according to the evidence before the commission - which is investigating the underlying causes in political killings in KwaZulu-Natal from 2011.
Serve the community
On the day of her murder, she had received a message from someone who is currently the mayor of a municipality, which is known but may not be identified, by evidence leaders. The person had warned Ngobese-Sibisi not to go out.
"She did not pay attention to the message because she had no enemies and she went out because she wanted to serve the community," her brother Fanyana Jele said.
Ngobese-Sibisi was nominated by the ANC to stand as a councillor candidate in Ward 20 during the 2016 local government elections. She was shot dead while in her car at about 02:00 on July 18 2016 in Acaciavale Village .
"She was about to enter the stadium when another car cut in front of her and began shooting," he said.
She did not die instantly after the shooting.
Steering wheel
"I was told that her last words were to ask people to call her son, Zama, who drove the car that had blankets in it.
"Zama was about to enter the stadium and my sister was a short distance behind him. She had instructed Zama to take the blankets to the stadium where they were to meet," he said.
When Zama, 21, arrived at the scene of the shooting, he moved his mother from behind the steering wheel to the backseat and drove her to a local hospital, Jele told the commission.
Jele said she was shot multiple times with a high caliber rifle which "ripped her body apart.
"My father's child could not have survived," he said while tears rolled down his face.
Ngobese-Sibisi is survived by five children aged between 11 and 21.
Jele said three "youngsters" were with Ngobese-Sibisi on the day of the fatal shooting, "but by the Grace of God, none of them were shot".
Internal politics
A man who allegedly shot Ngobese-Sibisi was arrested on July 26, a few days after her funeral, the commission heard.
"There is someone behind her murder because the accused doesn't even know my sister," he said, adding that they didn't know the accused either.
Jele said his sister's murder had to do with internal politics within the ANC.
The accused has already appeared three times in the Durban High Court. However the case has been transferred to the Emadadeni High Court in Newcastle.
The matter would be back in court on November 13, Jele said.
During her memorial service and funeral, a top provincial ANC Women’s League official - who could not be named because the matter was still before court - said her bodyguards had told her that Ngobese-Sibisi needed bodyguards, Jele said.
"She never explained why the bodyguards said my sister needed bodyguards. Our family did not ask the woman why as we were still shocked by my sister's murder.
"Why would there be such a brutal killing of a woman in the organisation that we like?" he asked.
She was very vocal, he said.
"There were rumours that she died for being vocal and not corruptible. She was also not happy that a 2010 housing project called Umzuvele Housing Project had not been completed," he said.
The hearings would continue on Wednesday.
