Msibi's other brushes with the law

Mandla Msibi is a former educator and youth commissioner in the office of the premier of Mpumalanga.  

In 2006, he was elected as a councillor in the Mbombela local municipality. He assumed the role of speaker of the municipality after the 2016 local government elections. 

In 2019, Msibi was elected as a member of the provincial legislature and was later appointed as MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs. 

In February, Msibi was moved to become MEC for agriculture, rural development, land and environmental affairs.

Yesterday, Msibi, 45, told the Nelspruit magistrate's court where he was appearing on two counts of murder and an attempted murder charge that he was a married father of seven.

His youngest child is three and the oldest is 21.

He said he earned R88,000 per month as an MEC and had movable and non-movable assets worth more than R1.5m.

Since 2018, Msibi had been attending cases in the Mbombela and KaBokweni magistrate's courts on charges ranging from common assault, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property to attempted murder.

All these incidents allegedly took place in Pienaar, near Kanyamazane, where he lives.

The MEC was accused of commanding a vigilante group that conducted a reign of terror in the province. In August 2017, Msibi was charged with attempted murder after the brutal assault of Given Madonsela and the battering of his employer’s BMW X5, which he was driving.

Due to the assault, Madonsela has lost full use of one of his hands.

This matter was withdrawn on February 16 because witnesses did not show up for the trial, said NPA provincial spokesperson Monica Nyuswa. 

She said in June, Msibi was acquitted of attempted murder when the complainant, Rocky Mxolisi Sithole, 34, deposed an affidavit to clear Msibi.

Sithole had accused Msibi and three other men of attempted murder in 2017 after they allegedly assaulted him.