Masango settles out of court for alleged attack
The case against former MEC for human settlements, Siphosezwe Masango, for allegedly attacking a motorist, has been withdrawn after he settled out of court.
BARBERTON – The case against former MEC for human settlements, Siphosezwe Masango, for allegedly attacking a motorist, has been withdrawn after he settled out of court.
This emerged on Wednesday at the Barberton Magistrate’s Court, where his two bodyguards, Mancoba Victor Nkentjane and Sammy Sthembiso Mthombothi, appeared on similar charges.
Masango, along with Nkentjane and Mthombothi were accused of attacking motorist Gert van der Merwe (39) at the Nkomazi Toll Plaza near Malelane on July 9, 2012.
However, during the bodyguards’ appearance, Masango, who has recently been sworn in as an ANC MP, was not present in court.
Barberton Times has since learnt that Masango reached an out-of-court settlement with Van der Merwe. This paper couldn’t verify what the settlement was as neither parties could be reached for comment. In the meantime, Magistrate Phindile Mlothswa postponed the case against the bodyguards to July 29 to allow an out-of-court agreement to be reached.
The three allegedly attacked Van der Merwe after he had confronted them about their reckless driving. Afterwards he laid a charge at Kaapmuiden Police Station and the case was transferred to the independent police investigative directorate as the bodyguards were employed by the SAPS.
By then, Masango was already the MEC for human settlements. Premier David Mabuza sacked him in February last year and he was replaced by Andries Gamede after he had failed to meet a target of housing units. The target was 10 980 and Masango’s department only delivered 3 900 throughout the province.
