Sindiso Magaqa
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sindiso Magaqa (died 4 September 2017) was a South African politician from
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
. A member of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
(ANC), he was assassinated while serving as a local councillor in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality. He was formerly the secretary general of the
ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (N ...
from June 2011 to April 2012, when he was found guilty of misconduct and suspended from the party for a year.


Early life and career

Magaqa was born in the
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
of Ibisi in Umzimkhulu, which was a part of the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
until it joined
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
in 2006. He joined the Congress of South African Students while still in primary school, and he went on to become an active member of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
, joining the
ANC Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (N ...
(ANCYL) in 1997. In tandem with his political career, he studied law at the
University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...
and for a time was employed as a project manager in the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality.


ANC Youth League


Political rise

Magaqa rose to political prominence in the ANCYL, first in the league's regional executive committee in Alfred Nzo (in the Eastern Cape) and then as the regional chairperson, for four terms, of the league's
Harry Gwala Themba Harry Gwala (30 July 1920 – 20 June 1995) was an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) in South Africa. Biography Early career and activism Harry Gwala ...
branch (in KwaZulu-Natal). In May 2010, he was elected as the deputy provincial chairperson of the ANCYL's KwaZulu-Natal branch. He and the newly elected provincial chairperson, Mthandeni Dlungwana, were both elected as part of a
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
of candidates aligned to the provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo. After only a year in the provincial branch, Magaqa emerged as the frontrunner to succeed Vuyiswa Tulelo as national secretary general of the ANCYL. As the leadership elections approached, he had the support of eight of the league's nine provincial branches; his opponent, Ayanda Matiti, was the chairperson of the Eastern Cape branch and attracted its support. The ANCYL's 24th national conference was held in June 2011 at Gallagher Estate in
Midrand Midrand is a town in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion, Gauteng, Centurion and Sandton. Formerly an independent municipality, Midrand now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History ...
and Magaqa was elected as secretary general, with Kenetswe Mosenogi as his deputy.


ANC suspension

Magaqa entered the ANCYL secretariat at the outset of the second term of league president Julius Malema, who had already clashed several times with the leadership of the mainstream ANC. The ''
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...
'' regarded Magaqa as a close ally of Malema, and he adopted a similarly provocative stance. In particular, in August 2011, he published an ANCYL statement that was highly critical of Malusi Gigaba, the incumbent Minister of Public Enterprises. The statement accused Gigaba of "pleasing imperialists" by publicly criticising the ANCYL's policy on the
nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
of mines. Later in August 2011, after Malema issued a particularly provocative statement of his own, the ANC's National Executive Committee took disciplinary action against the entire top leadership of the ANCYL. Magaqa appeared with the others at a disciplinary tribunal at Luthuli House on 30 August. On 10 November, the ANC's National Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Derek Hanekom, found Magaqa found guilty of misconduct for his public attacks on Minister Gigaba. As sanction, his ANC membership was suspended and he was ordered to apologise publicly to Gigaba. Through a complicated internal appeals process, this sentence was reconsidered once by the National Disciplinary Committee (which increased it to a three-year suspension), and twice by
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
's National Disciplinary Committee of Appeals. At the conclusion of the process in April 2012, Ramaphosa's committee ultimately handed Magaqa a one-year suspension from the ANC.


Aftermath

While Magaqa was serving his suspension, the leadership corps of the ANCYL was disbanded, and a new leadership was not elected until September 2015, when Njabulo Nzuza was elected to succeed Magaqa as ANCYL secretary general. Malema was expelled from the ANC at the same time that Magaqa was suspended, and Magaqa continued to defend Malema publicly. Indeed, Malema later claimed that Magaqa had considered joining his breakaway political party, the
Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...
. Nonetheless, when Magaqa's suspension ended in April 2013, he said that he would remain a "fighter for economic freedom" under the ANC banner. In the August 2016 local elections, he was elected to represent the ANC as a local councillor in Umzimkhulu Local Municipality, his hometown.


Assassination


Shooting and death

On the evening of 13 July 2017, Magaqa and two other local politicians – Nonsikelelo Mafa and Jabu Mzizi – were shot and wounded in an apparent
assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
attempt. The trio were on a car trip together and were ambushed when they stopped at a general store near Magaqa's home in Idisi. The South African Police Service said that about 15 shots were fired into the car by at least two gunmen, who wielded an R1 rifle and a pistol. All three of the victims were hospitalised and stabilised, though Magaqa, who had been driving the car, was critically injured. Magaqa died at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
on 4 September 2017, aged 35. Although family members suspected that he had been poisoned, arguing that he had made a full recovery in the weeks before his death, his official cause of death was the gunshot wounds he had sustained in the July shooting. His funeral was held on 16 September in Umzimkhulu. The apparent assassination of Magaqa was part of a broader wave of
political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...
in the region in 2016 and 2017, which had begun ahead of the 2016 local elections and which intensified in the run-up to the ANC's 54th National Conference. Some observers linked the shooting to factionalism in the ANC. More specifically, Magaqa's relatives and friends – particularly his ANC comrade Thabiso Zulu – told the press that Magaqa was targeted because he had blown the whistle on
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
in Umzimkhulu Municipality. Similar evidence was heard by the Moerane Commission, an inquiry established to investigate political killings in KwaZulu-Natal. Blueprint for Free Speech gave Zulu a whistleblowers' award for testifying about Magaqa's murder at the Moerane Commission despite threats to his own security.


Murder trial

In 2018, the police made its first arrests in connection with the shooting, and in March 2019, four men were charged with common-purpose murder in the Umzimkhulu magistrate's court. They were former policeman Sbonelo Myeza, businessman Mbulelo Mpofana, Umzimkhulu municipal manager Zweliphansi Skhosana, and, most prominently, politician Mluleki Ndobe, who at the time was the mayor of Harry Gwala District Municipality. However, the charges against Skhosana and Ndobe were dropped soon afterwards, and two new defendants – Mlungisi Ncalane and Sibusiso Ncengwa – were charged. Their trial began in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in April 2023, and they pled not guilty. Charging them with conspiracy to commit murder, murder, and attempted murder, the state alleged that the motive for the shooting stemmed from the mismanagement of funds in Umzimkhulu Municipality. The trial resumed in early 2024 after a prolonged postponement.


Honours

A student residence at the
Nelson Mandela University Nelson Mandela University, formerly Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, is a public university in South Africa. Established in 1882 as Port Elizabeth, Art School it comprises the former University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Tec ...
in George is named after Magaqa.


See also

* Political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magaqa, Sindiso 1980s births 2017 deaths Year of birth missing African National Congress politicians People from Umzimkhulu Local Municipality University of South Africa alumni People murdered in South Africa Assassinated South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians