By Mosa Cibi
SAPS Crime Intelligence witness, known as Witness E, has testified at the Madlanga Commission that senior intelligence officials allegedly supplied the car and gun used in the assassination of ANC councillor Sindiso Magaqa (pictured).
A protected officer, Witness E said the killing was entirely preventable, revealing he received direct information from the gunmen themselves two weeks before the July 2017 attack.
“The shooters told me they were being hired to kill Sindiso Magaqa,” he said, insisting the intelligence was not hearsay.
Despite the warning, no protective action was taken. Magaqa was shot outside a general dealer in uMzimkhulu after a council meeting and later died on 4 September 2017 from complications related to the attack.
One of the hitmen, Sibusiso Ncengwa, was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment, according to the National Prosecuting Authority confirmation of the conviction and the official SAPS sentencing announcement.
Under questioning by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Witness E admitted he failed to act, despite portraying himself as a highly effective operative with a record of infiltrating organised crime networks.
He further testified that the gunmen named his own Crime Intelligence superiors as the alleged masterminds, directly implicating senior SAPS figures in enabling the assassination.
The testimony adds to growing allegations of political interference within SAPS, following earlier bombshell testimony by KZN Police Commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi at the Madlanga Commission.
The commission was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has previously indicated support for immediate criminal prosecutions where evidence warrants it.
As pressure mounts for deep sensor replacement within SAPS—with anti-corruption reformer Firoz Cachalia appointed to help restore credibility—the Magaqa case has become a defining test of whether South Africa’s justice system can confront political killings allegedly enabled from within the state itself.
