Pretoria - While Limpopo police are on the hunt for the gunmen who murdered Collins Chabane Municipality mayor Moses Maluleke on Thursday, villagers say they live in fear of violent crime.
Maluleke died after three men stormed into his house in Saselamani village near Malamulele, and killed him in cold blood and injuring his son.
Police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said Maluleke, 56, was shot and killed by the gunmen, who left his 18-year-old son wounded.
“Three unknown suspects entered the mayor’s home at 7pm and demanded money from the mayor and his son. When the pair could not comply with the instructions, they were shot at by the trio. The mayor succumbed to his injuries on the scene, and his son was transported to a hospital where he is receiving medical care.”
Devastated villagers and those close to Maluleke said they believed it was a politically motivated assassination, because of his strict leadership style and locking down of dodgy tenders.
Vincent Sithole, who lives in Malamulele near where the incident happened, said crime in the area was getting worse by the day. “Every day there
is either a robbery or someone has been raped or beaten ...This place has become scary. We are no longer safe.”
In November last year heavily armed men stormed and robbed the local police station of rifles, pistols and ammunition, and some suspects are now standing trial. Some are sceptical that this was a random act of crime.
A prominent politician in the area, who refused to identify himself for fear of being targeted, alleges that Maluleke was a target because he was strict when it came to corruption. “The mayor had zero tolerance for corruption. He did not allow dodgy tenders to go through … there are a few tenders that he suspended due to maladministration. If it was a random robbery why did they not take anything?” he asked.
“They knew what they were there for and wanted to kill the son too just to silence him.”
The ANC in the province condemned the killing and called on law enforcement agents to investigate the murder.
ANC Limpopo spokesperson Jimmy Machaka said: “The ANC in Limpopo condemns the brutal killing of the party’s regional deputy secretary in the Vhembe region.”
Vice-Chancellor and Principal at Tshwane University of Technology, Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, also vented his frustrations on social media over the death of the man he called a brother. “I’m gutted and devastated by the killing of my brother Moses ‘Big Moss’ Maluleke, Mayor of the Collins Chabane Municipality. Words fail me.”
Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha said he too was deeply saddened by the death of Maluleke. On Friday he said: “Last night we slept with heavy hearts after criminals robbed our province by senselessly killing one of our own, Cllr Moses Maluleke. He will go down in history as one of the champions of development and service delivery.”
Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said by yesterday there had not been a breakthrough yet. “The motive is not known at this stage.”
Pretoria News