Murder charges against Mandla Msibi have been provisionally withdrawn. The charges were dropped on Monday September 5 when Msibi appeared in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court in Mbombela.

The 45-year-old Msibi was facing two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for his alleged involvement in a shooting incident which happened in August 2021.

He was charged alongside five others, Anele Mnisi, Joseph Charlie Ngwenya, Tsepo Eddie Matsane, Njabulo Mkhonto and Sibusiso Vincent Mdhluli. The charges against the five other accused were also withdrawn.

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Msibi has always maintained that he was innocent and that the charges were fabricated and designed to tarnish his political career. At the time of the alleged crimes, Msibi was regarded the kingmaker, just ahead of the ANC provincial conference.

He went on to be elected the party’s provincial treasurer when the conference finally sat at Emalahleni Dam in April.

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He, however, volunteered to step aside as per the party’s step-aside rule. Now that he has been cleared of all charges, he will be returning to do work.

* This article has been amended from the previous version that stated that the charges against Msibi and his co-accused were dropped. It has since come to light that the charges were provisionally withdrawn.