Pretoria - Collins Chabane Municipality mayor Moses Maluleke is the sixth politician to be shot and killed in Limpopo in only two years.
The 56-year-old was killed at his home on Thursday night by three men. They injured his 18-year-old son.
Police believe the murder, which occurred in Saselamani village near Malamulele in the Vhembe region, was a robbery gone wrong.
National SAPS spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said the men demanded money from Maluleke and his son. When they could not comply, they were shot. Maluleke died at the scene and his son was taken to hospital.
The Pretoria News reported yesterday that some politicians believed it was a political killing due to Maluleke’s hard-handed approach in the awarding of tenders within the municipality.
In 2019, two SA Municipal Workers Union and Vhembe local authority employees, Timson Musetsho and Ronald Mani, were killed for speaking out against their municipality investing in the controversial VBS Mutual Bank. Four suspects were arrested.
Two councillors from Mogalakwena municipality, Valtyn Kekana, 54, and Ralph Kanyane, 32, were shot in 2019 in Mokopane town.
Kekana chaired the municipal public accounts committee and was about to table a report to the council regarding irregular expenditure or maladministration in the municipality.
Ward councillor in the Fetakgomo-Tubatse Local Municipality, Thabang Maupa, 54, was shot outside his restaurant, allegedly for speaking out against VBS.
Last August, an ANC member died while driving on Solomon Mahlangu Drive in Mamelodi. He was from a voting station in Nellmapius.
Last July, ANC member Godfrey Gouwe’s bullet-riddled body was found by his 18-year-old son a few houses away from his house in Ga-Rankuwa.
Last September, Tshepo Motaung was shot 20 times in Mabopane, Tshwane in what was reported as a politically motivated attack.
In September, in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, Ncamisile Shange, Beatrice Nzama and Philisiwe Jili were killed in a drive-by shooting while attending an ANC committee meeting to finalise candidates for the elections.
A month before the elections, ANC councillor and candidate for ward 101, Siyabonga Mkhize, was shot dead in October during a door-to-door campaign in Cato Crest in Durban.
Pretoria News