Former mayor shot during a protest

MOKOPANE – Former Waterberg district mayor, Eric Gwangwa was shot in the upper thigh when a group of angry protesters interrupted a special council meeting at the Mogalakwena Municipality on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Mogalakwena Municipality spokesperson, Malesela Selokela, Gwangwa was one of the protesters. It has not yet been determined who the shooter was, but at the time, municipal security guards reportedly opened fire in an attempt to restore peace.

The protesters demanded the dismissal of the 26 councillors who had failed to attend four or more council meetings.

Mokopane police spokesperson, Const Madikgale Masingi said, some of the protesters were advancing into the council chamber and security guards started shooting, which was when Gwangwa was shot. She added that Gwangwa was in stable condition in hospital, and a case of attempted murder had been opened.

“The investigation will be handled by a special provincial task team, and no arrests have been made as yet,” she concluded.

Mogalakwena DA ward councillor, Beyers Smit, said the entire situation was now out of control. He blamed the incident on ANC in-fighting.

“Neither the MEC for cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs nor the ANC’s provincial leadership are able to resolve these problems. This uncertain environment that halts service delivery and basic council functions have escalated since 2012. It all started after the DA initiated a forensic audit in 2012 after suspected corruption by the mayor. The KPMG report implicated various councillors, officials, as well as the business interests of senior ANC politicians in the province. The DA will not stand by and observe the abuse of public funds to fight ANC battles in court. The DA will not allow ANC cronies to loot the coffers of this municipality,” he said.

“Neither can the DA allow the abuse of Section 139 interventions to settle political scores in an attempt to make corruption charges disappear.”