POLITICAL KILLING: ‘If someone has to die, so be it’ — threats preceded NMB councillor’s murder

About a week before the 4 November local government elections, Nelson Mandela Bay UDM councillor Luxolo Namette called his wife, Mandisa, while driving home in Motherwell. He had spotted two men – one carrying a firearm – hiding near the boundary wall of their property. Their home is a few hundred metres from where he was shot dead on 7 November, after stepping outside a barber shop where he had received a phone call. He was the fourth Nelson Mandela Bay councillor to be killed since 2022. Luxolo Namette. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) Mandisa told Daily Maverick that after spotting the men, her husband “decided to drive past the house and did a U-turn at the end of the street while the men were watching him. As he turned back around, the men started running in different directions.“He chased after the one who was carrying the gun until he ran to an area where the car could not drive. I am not sure if he reported this particular incident to [party leaders], but there are party members who are aware.”The Motherwell area where UDM councillor Luxolo Namette was fatally shot. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) Mandisa alerted other residents in the area to the incident in one of her community WhatsApp groups.Anonymous SMSAbout two months before the elections, Namette received an anonymous SMS warning him that two UDM members wanted him removed from the party’s proportional representation list and would do anything to achieve this.According to Mandisa, fellow party members had also sent Namette leaked recordings of UDM members bad-mouthing him.“So according to my analysis, those voice notes, the stalking incident, followed by the SMS, were all part of the same scheme. I asked him to report the SMS to the media, but he wanted the party to handle it first so that no negative story is published that can bring the party into disrepute.”Mandisa said she understood that Namette had forwarded the message to UDM president Bantu Holomisa and secretary-general Bulelani Bobotyane. She said Bobotyane subsequently called Namette and advised him to ignore it.On Sunday, Bobotyane said Namette had not lodged a formal complaint with the party, formally reported the threats or requested assistance. Holomisa could not be reached for comment.“After he forwarded that SMS, Bobotyane called saying these things happen and he should just ignore it,” said Mandisa. “If this has anything to do with politics, Bobotyane should know exactly what this war against my husband is about because he would talk to my husband about the people mentioned in that message.”Mandisa questioned how the party would help the family secure their home. Namette had been the breadwinner, providing for their four children and paying the mortgage.In the anonymous SMS, the sender alleged that two UDM members were aggrieved that Namette had emerged as the mayoral candidate when they too wanted to “eat”.UDM councillor Luxolo Namette received an anonymous SMS warning him about two party members who were not happy that he was the only candidate on the proportional representative list ahead of the elections. (Photo: Screenshot) Below is an edited translation of the SMS.Hi Cllr, I will not reveal my identity, but I wanted to warn you about the [election] contestation and you being number one on the PR list, as [UDM Member One] and [others] don’t want you, Cllr, and they will do everything in their power to have you removed. They don’t have a particular reason when we ask why they are fighting you so much...They have been telling others that they also want salaries; he can’t be eating with his friends alone. People want to work with you but are scared of [UDM Member One]; her followers are pushing for [UDM Member Two] to be the mayoral candidate so that they can all eat. The secretary-general (Bulelani Bobotyane) has two options: either when [UDM Member Two] is declared the mayoral candidate in NMB, he will work with him and [UDM Member One].[UDM Member Two] will bring him back to take his position [...] so that you have nothing. So, all in all, they want you with nothing for your children. When they talk among themselves, they say they want to see what you are going to do after 4 November – and if someone has to die, then so be it. Hence, I am warning you now, Cllr, because it would be bad if you died because of the filth of people you did nothing to...I wish that you would forward this message to the [police] general because it’s enough now. [UDM Member One] is messing up the party and is badly influencing other members. We have been quietly watching this. Please be careful, and may God and your ancestors protect you in this war with an old woman. We know the truth of why [they are] fighting you. What is scary are her words that someone must die if they have to.Asked if the party would assist the family in paying for the house, Bobotyane said: “To all other questions, I am out of the country until the 20 November. I am not aware of any arrangements of that nature as yet.”Namette joined the UDM as a young man and volunteered for the party for years before becoming a councillor.He served as a deputy mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay in 2021 and was the municipal public accounts chair at the time of his death.Namette’s father, Thembelani, said his son had a warm heart, got along with everyone and was the one who brought the family together.Luxolo Namette’s father, Thembelani, remembers his son as a peacemaker who brought the family together. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)He was at a church meeting when he received a call informing him about the shooting.“I went to the scene [of the incident] with my church minister and other people, which is an area he regularly visits to cut his hair.“Luxolo followed the true meaning of his name – he was a peaceful person who always apologised first when there’s a problem at home. He has been like this since he was a boy. I remember an incident when we had fought, and he came to kneel before me and apologised. That was his character throughout his life.” No arrests have been made. DM