ZIWAPHI • VOL 4 NO 6 • 26 MARCH - 8 APRIL 2010
NELSPRUIT
The Congress of the People in Mpumalanga faces a dilemma over one of its high-profile members who have been caught in the middle of the so-called hit list saga.
On Wednesday, provincial secretary Buks Mahlangu confirmed that there were concerns within COPE over its Ehlanzeni regional chairperson, James Nkambule, to whom a hit man allegedly confessed his involvement in several political killings and assassination attempts in the province.
“The matter of Nkambule’s publicised involvement in the rumoured hit list was presented by COPE members during a recent interim leadership meeting that was held in the province,” Mahlangu told African Eye News Service.
He said the party felt that the matter was “too sensitive to be ignored”.
“As a party we believe that Nkambule has a right to report crime to the police and that he should be treated as a whistle-blower. However, we feel that he should confide in the provincial chairperson [John Nkuna] and explain the whole matter because it has caused an unnecessary public stir,” he said.
Mahlangu also acknowledged a letter that was written by the party’s youth movement in which they asked the provincial leadership to “sanction” Nkambule over reports about his links to the alleged hit list.
In the letter, which was leaked to the media on Tuesday, the youth movement mentioned that it was “deeply saddened and concerned” about Nkambule’s links to an alleged Mozambican hit man known as “Josh”, who claimed in a sworn affidavit that he was hired by a senior ANC leader to assassinate senior government officials, politicians and businessmen.
“We find this relationship between comrade James and the alleged existence of this particular ‘Josh’ to be carrying possible political implications in that it could be detrimental to the life and image of the organisation,” states the letter, which was signed by Murrel Zitha, regional secretary of the COPE Youth Movement.
“We are making this call because we feel that his organisational duties are being seriously compromised by his preoccupation with this so-called ‘hit list’ and the phantom ‘Josh,’ ” the letter states.
The letter further mentions that Nkambule is “always reported to be in Mozambique in pursuit of ‘Josh’” and that the police often fetch him from his office.
“James does not even consult with any of the organisational structures about his sustained media utterances, and he is constantly referred to as the ‘former provincial secretary of the ANCYL’ instead of his current position in COPE,” the author laments.
Nkuna referred questions about the letter to Mahlangu, who said Nkambule was yet to speak to Nkuna about the matters that have been raised.
He also admitted that he had not seen Nkambule recently.
“I read in the papers that he was shot in an attempt to assassinate and silence him about the alleged hit list, but I’ve never seen him since. I can’t confirm that he has been shot, but we will wait for him to confide in the leadership,” said Mahlangu.
Sbusiso Shakwane, spokesperson for COPE’s member of the provincial legislature, Zale Madonsela, said Nkambule has asked for leave from his official party duties.
“He wrote Madonsela a letter requesting leave but it has not yet been approved. The problem is that since he told reporters that he had been shot, we have not seen any signs that it happened. He has no bandages or any wounds that reflect any physical attack,” said Shakwane.
When contacted, Nkambule said COPE could “go to hell”.
“Let me say this on record, I don’t owe anyone any explanation. Nobody tells me what to do. Not even the president of the country can tell me what to do – only God can tell me what to do. They can all go to hell,” said Nkambule.
“If they want to remove me, let them remove me. This matter [of a hit list] is of national interest, not narrow political interests. And the fact that I’m a former ANC Youth League secretary cannot change, I am and will always be that.”
Nkambule insisted that he had been shot and said bullet marks at his home were testimony to the incident.
“Those people think I’m a comedian. None of them have ever visited my house since the incident. I have a window with bullet marks on it. They simply don’t care.”
He said the hit list investigation was being handled at a “high level” and he was satisfied that his “fight against crime” would soon yield results.
COPE can go to hell - Nkambule