“We need to know who is behind this, who gave the instructions, who bought the killers,” Lucky Mani, 60, says. He titters as he speaks, seeming to need to cover up his pain. “If I could wake up one day and receive information that the masterminds are behind bars, at least that can bring some closure.”
Mani has just come out of the sixth provincial gathering of the Congress of South African Trade Unions in Polokwane. He and other bereaved family members were invited by the federation to receive artworks commemorating the four unionists who were assassinated for exposing corruption in Limpopo’s municipalities.
Mani’s younger brother, Ronald Mani, 50, who was a shop steward in the Vhembe District Municipality and provincial deputy secretary of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union, and another union leader, Timson Tshimangadzo Musetsho, 50, were murdered six days apart in January 2019.
Mani believes the pair were killed for criticising senior officials and politicians in the Vhembe District Municipality who unlawfully invested in the VBS Mutual Bank. These investments eventually led to police arresting executives, politicians, municipality officials and managers for allegedly looting the bank of about R2.3 billion.
Mani’s brother had “strong morals and was very much anti-corruption” and Mani is not surprised he was killed for condemning the graft. The pair’s murder has created fear for those who would dare to call out officials who misappropriate resources meant for the...
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