ANC Mpumalanga treasurer Mandla Msibi will resume his duties today, say party leaders in the province.
Yesterday, the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela released Msibi along with his five co-accused after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew the double murder charges against them.
The NPA said the withdrawal was because of outstanding information in the case
Msibi and his co-accused were charged with the murders of Sindela Sipho Lubisi and Dingane Ngwenya in August last year outside Coyote's shisanyama in Mbombela.
The third victim, Sfiso Mpila, survived.
While Msibi's supporters celebrated the withdrawal, Judge Brian Mashile emphasised the withdrawal did not mean charges could not be reinstated in the future. “That doesn't mean the case has been won, but if the state gets information they may call back the accused.”
ANC provincial leaders celebrated the news, with provincial secretary Muzi Chirwa saying Msibi had conducted himself in an exemplary manner.
Msibi was elected ANC treasurer in the province back in April, however the ANC's step aside rule which bars members who are criminally charged from participating in ANC activities was invoked, and he had to step aside from his position.
“Comrade Msibi will resume his responsibilities as the ANC provincial treasurer from tomorrow the 6th [of] September 2022. It is our firm view that now that we have a full-time provincial treasurer, the ANC financial matters will be stabilised,” Chirwa said.
Msibi said he was ready and would make sure he's at work today. “Tomorrow morning (today) I'm going to work in the ANC office ... that's where I was elected as treasurer of the ANC. The issue of me being an MEC is not in my hands as I was fired, but is for the ANC and the premier of the province [to decide],” said Msibi.
Asked if he thought premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane fired him prematurely before clearing his name, Msibi said he would not question the decisions taken by the leadership.
AS ANC leaders celebrated the withdrawal of the charges, Lubisi and Ngwenya family members still do not know who killed them and why.
Speaking to Sowetan outside the court, NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said the reason for the withdrawal was because there was outstanding information in the case.
“I can confirm that the charges against the former MEC and co-accused have been withdrawn, this is due to outstanding information detected by the prosecution dealing with the matter. So we took a decision of provisionally withdraw the charges pending the outstanding information,” said Nyuswa.
Nyuswa said once such information has been obtained, the case might be brought back to court.
Commenting on the withdrawal of the charges against Msibi, political analysts said it had become more and more difficult to testify against political bigshots, adding that political pressure could be an added factor.
However, they also did not rule out the possibility of trumped-up charges being brought up as a means of dealing with factional ANC fights.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the withdrawal could result in the NPA's credibility being questioned. “When the NPA goes ahead with prosecuting cases it can’t prove, this will give credence that cases being brought to court are politically motivated.
“But we have to remember that one of the biggest challenges in the country is the current crisis in the capacity of the NPA to handle these high-profile cases.”
Analyst Susan Booysen said any witness testifying against a political bigshot was absolutely aware of the risk to do that.
“It’s highly unlikely anybody is going to have the courage to testify against such a powerful person. We do not know if he actually did it. But the contest is absolutely intimidating. The odds are absolutely stacked against the truth coming out,” she said.
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