DA suspends councillor accused of killing Nokuthula Simelane

Johannesburg – The DA suspended Gauteng councillor Msebenzi Radebe who is out on bail for the murder of uMkhonto weSizwe operative Nokuthula Simelane, it confirmed on Thursday.

DA Gauteng leader Khume Ramulifho said Radebe was served with suspension letters last week. "We served him with a suspension letter last week after we read the story on the Simelane case. We decided to put him on suspension pending the case," he said.

Radebe, who was part of the apartheid-era Soweto security branch, is accused of kidnapping and murdering Simelane.

News24 earlier reported that Radebe - together with Willem Coetzee, Anton Pretorius and Frederik Mong - was released on R5 000 bail in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on February 26.

The men maintain they did not kill Simelane, saying they would attend the trial to the end to clear their names.

Simelane disappeared in 1983 after she was arrested by security police.

She was allegedly taken to Norwood, in Johannesburg, and later moved to a farm in Vlakplaas, North West, where she was tortured.

On January 30, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams decided to pursue the matter.

This was based on evidence gathered by the NPA’s priority crimes litigation unit following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, said NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku.

Simelane was 23 when she was arrested. She was apparently on an ANC mission to South Africa from Swaziland, under the pretext of buying a graduation outfit.

Two years after her disappearance, Simelane's family sought the media’s help in finding her.

Her picture was sent to various newspapers.

A policeman who had worked at the Vlakplaas police station identified her. The policeman said the last time he saw her, she had become ill as a result of the assaults she endured.

Simelane's remains have never been found. 

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.