No healing, no help — murdered Sindiso Magaqa’s mother still lives in despair

The pain and suffering of Agnes Khethiwe Magaqa, 70, were contained in the victim impact statement that was read into the court record during sentencing proceedings of convicted murderer Sibusiso Ncengwa in the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, 30 June 2025.

Her son, Sindiso, the former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) secretary-general, was targeted in an assassination attempt in July 2017 in the uMzimkhulu area of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and died from his injuries two months later. 

The victim impact statement, compiled by family spokesperson Lwazi Knowledge Magaqa, was read into the record by senior State prosecutor, advocate Elvis Gcweka.

The report describes the mother’s pain, how the roof of her house in KZN was damaged in storms in 2019 and 2025. “If he was alive, he would have fixed the house,” it said.

On 6 June 2025, Ncengwa admitted his part in Magaqa’s murder. He also confessed to the attempted murders of Jabulile Msiya, Nonsikelelo Mafa, and Nceba Mazongolo, who were injured during the assassination attempt.

In his admission, Ncengwa detailed the circumstances leading up to Magaqa’s death, as well as his interactions with his co-accused, Sbonelo Myeza, Mbulelo Mpofana and Mlungisi Ncalane. The case against Myeza and Mpfana continues. Ncalane was declared unfit to stand trial and has been placed in a psychiatric facility

A  Cabinet meeting on 11 June 2025 declared that the Cabinet took political killings extremely seriously because most of the victims were committed to the fight against corruption.

The latest alleged political killing was that of Khethamabala Sithole, who served on the IFP’s national council. He was murdered on 31 May 2025 during a meeting with the party at the Buyafuthi Hostel in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg. The IFP believes that Sithole was targeted.

Mom never received counselling 

The victim impact statement painted a bleak picture of Magaqa’s mother’s continued suffering. 

According to the report, the family suffered psychological trauma as a result of the crime, including shock and grief. He was a son, a brother, a breadwinner and the father of three girls. 

His first daughter was born in 2009, and is now in Grade 10. He had twins in 2011 who are now in Grade 8. They live with their mother in Gauteng.

Agnes Magaqa has not received counselling since her son’s murder. She is diabetic and becomes emotional when she hears news reports of, or sees her son on television. She also finds it difficult to keep up with the case since she always cries.

The court also heard that Magaqa was a visionary politician who established a soccer team for boys, keeping them busy and away from drugs, but after his death, that came to an end.

He purchased a plot of land and began constructing a double-storey house for his girls. He died before it was finished. The house is in a dilapidated state while the municipality continues to issue bills. His mother has sold his cattle to help pay for his children’s education. 

Danger in the ANC

According to a victim impact report compiled by Kwazi Mshengu on behalf of the ANC, Magaqa was an ANC activist and national figure who rose through the ranks of the Youth League to become its secretary-general. He served as a councillor in the Umzimkhulu Local Municipality at the time of his death.

“His killing and assassination left a deep scar within the ANC. Not only did the ANC lose one of the most trusted comrades and a servant of the people, his demise resulted in deep tension in the ANC as comrades started to suspect each other.

“The ANC public image was damaged. As tension grew amongst comrades, this complicated a message that it is no longer safe to be an active member of the ANC,” Mshengu said.

His demise, Mshengu said, came at the height of the killing of politicians in the province.

“In essence, the assassination of Magaqa dealt a blow to the organisation and his impact will continue to be felt for generations to come,” he indicated.

However, Andrew Mathemela, counsel for Ncengwa, disagreed with the report’s assessment of the impact the death of Magaqa had on the ANC.

“I think differently, because the instigators are members of the ANC. The ANC should have gone to the family of Magaqa and apologised, because the instigators belong to the ANC, to say we are sorry, because our members killed Magaqa,” he said.

“As I stated, the instigators are senior members of the ANC. They are too late; they should have sent some delegation to the Magaqa family to apologise and said [that] some senior members killed Magaqa.

“Nothing from them; all they say now is that this killing has impacted the organisation. They are not claiming that the killing was caused by their senior members,” Mathemala said.

Ncengwa has implicated two senior municipal officials in Magaqa’s murder. He claims he was originally paid R120,000 and promised a R1-million tender. 

State of political killings

Research shows that KwaZulu-Natal stands out for having the greatest frequency of politically linked assassinations.

Data obtained by the Global Initiative on Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) since 2000 shows a marked increase in the number of assassinations, especially since 2015. Of the 418 political hits recorded nationwide between 2000 and 2021, 213 took place in the seven years to 2021, and of that number, 118 were in KZN.

Read more: Assassination nation – political contract killings escalate in KZN as hitmen are offered ‘job after job’

According to a 2024 GI-TOC report, there were 131 political killings in SA in 2023, 10 fewer than in 2022.

The Moerane Commission was established in 2016 to explore the root causes of political killings in KZN and made comprehensive recommendations for tackling political violence in the province.

These recommendations led to the establishment of the National Political Killings Task Team by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018.

In September 2023, former Police Minister Bheki Cele, on behalf of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Political Killings, gave an overview of political killings in KZN.

According to Cele, at the time, of the 52 murders of councillors under investigation, 31 were ANC councillors and 14 were from the IFP. The NFP lost four of its councillors while the EFF and ACDP lost two and one respectively.

The national police task team was dealt a blow at the end of December 2024, when Police Minister Senzo Mchunu issued a letter to National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola on 31 December 2024, requesting that the team be disbanded.

Despite this instruction, KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said he would continue the fight to ensure the political killings task team was allowed to proceed with high-profile investigations that might implicate senior cops.

Mkhwanazi further indicated that members of the task team were working with detectives in Gauteng on possible cover-ups concerning certain murder cases in the province that involved senior police officers.

Hitman has previous murder conviction

Ncengwa has previously been convicted of murder and other offences. On 17 June 2021, he was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison; five counts of attempted murder and sentenced to five years; armed robbery and sentenced to 15 years; and two counts of contraventions of the Firearms and Ammunition Act and sentenced to 15 years each.

He was effectively sentenced to 30 years in prison. However, on 14 July 2023, he was granted leave to appeal. 

Ncengwa’s counsel Mathemela argued in the mitigation of sentence in the Magaqa matter in court this week: “The accused pleaded guilty and showed remorse. He is available to assist the State in future. He did not only plead guilty, but he fully disclosed who are the instigators.”

The State contends the murder of Magaqa was premeditated, and there are no compelling and substantial circumstances to persuade the court to depart from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.

Sentencing will be handed down on Monday, 7 July. DM