Speaker, Mpumalanga is a dangerous place to be a politician. In recent times, there have been several assassinations of politicians and government officials in the province. Five officials from the Govan Mbeki Municipality recently appeared in the Bethal Magistrate's court on charges of colluding to kill Bomba Ntshangase, an SACP member, who had spoken out against corruption. Mr Ntshangase was killed on 4 May 2010 in his hostel room. His killing is allegedly related to the building of a stalled project in Emzinoni. The Govan Mbeki Municipality has experienced the brunt of murders of officials and politicians in the province.
In 2005 Joshua Ntshuhle, who was the Chief Financial Officer of the Govan Mbeki Municipality at that time, disappeared from the area without a trace. In 2007 Thandi Mtsweni, the Deputy Mayor of the Govan Mbeki Municipality, was killed in front of her house for speaking out against alleged corrupt tender processes at the municipality.
It appears that corrupt officials and politicians in this ANC-run province are doing everything in their power to silence anyone who tries to expose the looting of government funds for personal gain. Owing to the extent of political murders in Mpumalanga, it is clear that the ANC in this province is thoroughly rotten. Obviously, perpetrators of crime should be made to account for what they have done, but the ANC also needs to take the responsibility for deploying these people in the province, who are more concerned about patronage than service delivery.
The greed of some of the politicians and officials in Mpumalanga is disgusting. These murders and attempted murders are another reason for government to stop the ability of politicians and officials of being able to do business with government. I thank you.