Archbishop faces down alleged death threat

Police probe alleged assassination plot

Leader of Makhanda activist group Concerned Makhanda Residents (CMR) Archbishop Nkosinathi says death threats won’t hold him back from exposing alleged wrongdoing in Makana Municipality. He said this following a statement from the organisation expressing alarm over an alleged assassination plot targeting the leader of the Ethiopian Episcopal Church.  Police confirmed that they are investigating the allegation.

The CMR is a broad based grouping of Makhanda residents spanning the political and social spectrum who mobilised earlier this year to protest against prolonged water outages and appalling service delivery in general. Ngesi is its chairperson.

In a statement issued on Wednesday June 18, the organisation expressed alarm at a tipoff from an anonymous source. In their statement, the CMR said their source had overheard a municipal official discussing plans to harm Ngesi.

The organisation said it took the information seriously in light of the assassination at his Joza home of Jeff Budaza, a Makana official who blew the whistle on corruption within the municipality.

“We know of the death threats that the activists such as the late Ayanda Kota… faced when also seeking to uncover the corruption…,” the CMR said in their statement.

“We want to let it be known that we are not afraid of the corrupt toothless individuals… who use political killings as tactics to cover up their misuse of public funds and lack of interest in providing quality service delivery to the people of Makhanda. Our plight as CMR has always been to fix the poor administration of the municipality and ensure that service delivery becomes a priority,” the organisation said. “Let us gather to protect Archbishop Ngesi and stand together in the fight for quality service delivery!”

In a subsequent interview with Talk of the Town, Ngesi said, “Behind the scenes, something is happening and I will not hold back [ie in exposing alleged wrongdoing].”

He alluded to the likely repercussions should harm come to him.

Responding to questions from Talk of the Town, Makana Municipality spokesperson Anele Mjekula said, “Makana Local Municipality is not aware of such threats. The municipality has not received any formal or informal reports in relation to this matter. We therefore cannot comment on the issue.”

South African Police Service spokesperson Captain Marius McCarthy said, “We can confirm that Makhanda SAPS have opened an Inquiry. Investigation in the matter is ongoing.”