January murders politically motivated, NPA

The NPA has confirmed that the January Murders were politically motivated and needed special attention. The murders include those of Mpatlanyane, Mbombela local municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala and ANC chief whip in the Ehlanzeni district municipality Johan Ndlovu. All three men were murdered in the month of January since 2009.
Four people accused of murdering Mohlala were acquitted in January last year because of insufficient evidence.
Three people have been convicted for Ndlovu’s murder.
Meanwhile, two Mpumalanga police officers who are accused of staging an identification parade after another officer’s gun was used to murder Mpumalanga culture, sports, arts and recreation spokesman Sammy Mpatlanyane are still at work.
Last year, the National Prosecuting Authority ordered an investigation into the two officers as well as the officer whose gun was reportedly stolen and used to kill Mpatlanyane.
The investigations are also probing allegations that the crime scene was tampered with before forensic experts arrived.
The staged ID parade led to the arrest of three foreign nationals – Mozambican Nito Mashava, 27, Tanzanian Omary Issa, 27, and Congolese Tupac “Abu” Ntumba, 26.
The case was provisionally withdrawn in July last year because Mashava, who pointed out his two co-accused is mentally ill and was declared unfit to stand trial. He is expected to be declared a state president’s patient.
Provincial spokesman of the NPA, Medupi Simasiku told African Eye News Service that the docket has been sent to a prosecutor for a directive on how to handle the case against the two police officers accused of staging the ID parade.
“The investigation against the two investigators is ongoing the docket has been forwarded to the prosecutor for decision so an appropriate decision will be taken soon thereafter,” said Simasiku.
Mpatlanyane was gunned down on January 10, 2010 at his home in Mbombela. At the time, Mpatlanyane’s murder was linked to alleged cover-ups of tender fraud in Mpumalanga’s 2010 Mbombela stadium.