By Thys Khiba – The South African Police Service (SAPS) Spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe has denied political assassination allegations made by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a statement earlier today.
SAPS deny knowledge of briefing EFF over an alleged plot to assassinate the party’s Secretary General Marshall Dlamini. pic.twitter.com/6UeEtxiOMR
— Aldrin Sampear (@AldrinSampear) February 7, 2023
“We were made of aware about the statement this morning as soon as it was released and we would like to placement on record that we are not aware of any briefing that was related to the EFF and its leadership,” said Mathe.
The EFF alleged it was informed by police about an assassination plot on its Secretary General Marshall Dlamini.
According to the party, they have received a warning from SAPS alleging that senior leaders of the IFP plans to kill Dlamini.
“The reliable intelligence reports illustrate that senior leaders of the IFP believe that our Secretary General is solely responsible for the collective decision we took to initiate and support motions of no confidence against IFP Mayors in several Municipalities in the Province of KwaZulu Natal,” said EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo.
Thambo indicated that they are not taking the alleged report lightly because the province of KZN has been defined by many political killings for a very long time.
“We respect the IFP’s decision to not support the establishment of EFF governments in different Municipalities in KwaZuluNatal hence our logical and rational decision to vote out IFP governments wherever we previously voted for them,” Thambo.
The party said they are opposed to using violence and political killings as a method to settle political differences.
In addition to the issued statement, the EFF said Dlamini was called by Minister of Police, Bheki Cele to tell him about the threat on his life by the IFP leadership.
In response to the allegations, the IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the allegations are a “classic historical ANC playbook stuff: false narratives, victimhood, wherein they bring the security forces on-site and then accuse third parties of doing what they themselves are about to do.”
Hlengwa classified claims made by the EFF as inflammatory and dangerous politicking.
He continued to say that if police were aware of an assassination plot, they would have made arrests.
The party called on Cele and State Security Agency to clarify the claims.
“The EFF’s latest political stunt of removing themselves from co-governance with the IFP did not yield the results they had hoped for. They believed they could force the IFP into a position to hand over municipalities, but the IFP was unwilling to betray the trust of the communities that voted for us.
“Now that their plans have backfired, the EFF is making wild, unfounded and extremely dangerous accusations against the IFP.”
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