The long-delayed pursuit of justice for the 2017 assassination of former ANC Youth League Secretary-General Sindiso Magaqa took a dramatic turn on Monday with the arrest of the former municipal manager of the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality, more than seven years after the brutal killing.
The 55-year-old suspect, who cannot yet be named until his court appearance, was re-arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) Political Killings Task Team in Malvern, Durban, following new developments in the murder investigation. The former official was previously arrested in 2018, alongside the late former mayor of Umzimkhulu, a local businessman, two former police officers, and a notorious hitman, Sbusiso Ncengwa.
Ncengwa was convicted earlier this month and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the high-profile political assassination, which shocked the country and exposed the deadly underworld of political power struggles in KwaZulu-Natal.
The former municipal manager is expected to appear at the Umzimkhulu Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 29 July 2025.
The arrest comes in the wake of explosive revelations made earlier this month by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, who revealed that the SAPS Political Killings Task Team, once hailed as a dedicated unit tackling political murders, had been quietly disbanded without public disclosure.
Mkhwanazi, speaking at a recent provincial legislature safety committee briefing, said the task team had not been operating “in any meaningful capacity” for over a year, raising serious concerns about the state’s political will to address political violence and assassinations.
“The silence was deliberate,” a police insider told African Times on condition of anonymity. “Disbanding that task team was effectively pulling the plug on high-stakes investigations that implicated senior political and municipal officials.”
But in a sudden about-turn, the SAPS appears to have reactivated and re-energised the unit, especially following pressure from civil society, journalists, political parties, and the families of political murder victims.
The Magaqa case is one of many that have highlighted the murky intersection of politics, money, and contract killings in South Africa’s most volatile province.
Sindiso Magaqa, who was gunned down in a hail of bullets in July 2017, had been investigating a corruption-linked tender worth R37 million for the construction of Umzimkhulu’s Memorial Hall. He died in September 2017 after months in hospital.
His killing sparked outrage and led to the establishment of the SAPS Political Task Team, initially led by top detectives and experienced intelligence officers. However, numerous arrests were followed by years of delay, collapsing witness protection, and claims of interference.
The conviction of hitman Sbusiso Ncengwa earlier this month marked the first major legal victory in the case. Ncengwa, widely believed to be linked to a broader network of politically contracted assassins, was also implicated in other political killings in the Harry Gwala District.
KwaZulu-Natal continues to lead the country in political assassinations, with over 110 councillors, officials, and political activists killed between 2011 and 2025.
In the last year alone, at least 15 politically linked murders were reported in the province, including the recent execution-style killing of a ward councillor in Newcastle, and the fatal shooting of an ANC regional organiser in Umlazi.
Despite this deadly trend, very few cases result in conviction, fuelling the perception that political killings in South Africa are carried out with impunity.
Political analyst Sibongile Duma told journalists that Magaqa’s murder was “not just about silencing a whistleblower — it was part of a broader network of patronage, fear and intimidation.”
“The state allowed the task team to be dismantled quietly because these cases expose a rot that goes to the heart of local power structures,” Duma said. “This is why hitmen are recycled from one case to the next. The same guns kill different councillors for different contracts, but the masterminds are often shielded.”
She said the reactivation of the Magaqa investigation may signal a shift, but warned that “unless the political puppeteers are arrested, the killings will continue.”
Despite being initially arrested in 2018, the former municipal manager was allowed to walk free for years, raising questions about evidence mishandling, prosecutorial weaknesses, or deliberate sabotage.
Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, national SAPS spokesperson, confirmed the re-arrest and said further details would be revealed in court. “The suspect will appear in the Umzimkhulu Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday,” she said, declining to comment on why charges had previously been dropped or delayed.
Meanwhile, families of other political murder victims are watching the developments closely, hoping that the revival of this case will lead to justice in their own.
For many, the arrest marks a painful but necessary step toward accountability.
“The blood of Sindiso Magaqa still cries out for justice,” said veteran ANC Youth League member Mandla Shange outside court. “It’s been seven years of silence, delay, and betrayal. This arrest is welcome, but we won’t rest until everyone responsible – not just the shooters – is behind bars.”
