The family of Collins Chabane Municipal Mayor Moses Maluleke says it is devastated by the brutal murder of the mayor.
Maluleke who was also ANC Deputy Chairperson at Vhembe region in Limpopo was killed at his home in Shikundu outside Malamulele on Thursday night. His 18-year-old son is in hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds sustained in the attack.
The family has described Maluleke as a humble man who loved his family. He was allegedly killed by three armed suspects who demanded money. The motive behind the killing is not yet known at this stage and police have mobilised a 72-hour plan to search for suspects.
Video| Police activate 72-hour plan to hunt down Mayor Moses Maluleke’s killers
Family representative, Shadrack Maluleke says, “As the family, we are still shocked and devastated by the brutal killing of our brother. What makes this very difficult as family is that we don’t know what the motives of this brutal killing was. And besides that, we are just pinning our hopes on the investigation by the South African Police Services that is going to shed light in terms of what the motives of this killing was. But to be honest, we are unable to cope with what happened.”
Meanwhile, Limpopo Premier Stanely Mathabatha says Maluleke’s murder has raised concerns around the security of mayors in the province. It has emerged that CCTV cameras and electric fence at Maluleke’s house were tempered with, during the incident.
Mathabatha says, “In our first meeting that we are going to meet with the MEC and the Executive Committee, we are going to discuss about this. It is important, is very, very critical that we need to up the security, because we thought, they’ve got sufficiency security, but this has just exposed. They don’t have sufficient security.”
Deputy Police minister Cassel Mathale says he is confident that the 72-hour plan to search for the suspects will yield good results.
Speaking during his visit to Maluleke’s home, Mathale said, “I was shocked by the sad news when the provincial Commissioner called me on Thursday evening that she is on her way to Malamulele, there’s a shooting incident involving the mayor and she will update me. It was unbelievable and I said what could be the reason behind this. He was a very fine mayor, down to earth and easy person is going. I’ve met him on many occasions on official functions and also organizational related activities. I found him to be a very good human being. I never for a moment thought that somebody would want to take him down. It was really shocking.”
The family says the funeral date is yet to be determined. It also says his wounded son is in a stable condition in hospital.
Video| More reactions to the killing of Collins Chabane mayor Moses Maluleke
