A man who confessed to being hired by a senior Eskom executive to kill a whistleblower has been arrested after a deadly heist at a cash-in-transit van in Cape Town.
The suspect, whose name has not been revealed, was part of a gang of armed robbers who attacked the van on Sunday, killing two security guards and injuring another. The police managed to track down the gang and engaged in a shootout, resulting in the death of three robbers and the arrest of two others.
One of the arrested robbers was identified as the hitman who contacted Dorothy Mmushi, a middle manager in Eskom’s forensics department, and told her that he was paid R400,000 to assassinate her. Mmushi had exposed a network of corruption and fraud involving Eskom employees and service providers, and reported them to the Hawks.
The hitman claimed that Mmushi’s boss was involved in the scheme and had paid him R50,000 in advance, with the balance to be paid after he completed the job. He also said that there were three other hitmen who were hired to kill Mmushi.
Mmushi recorded the phone call and reported it to Eskom and the police, but she said that her employer and the Hawks did not take any action to protect her or arrest the hitman. She said that she was terrified and shocked by the assassination plot, and disappointed by the lack of response from the authorities.
The police said that they are investigating the link between the hitman and the Eskom executive, and that they will also probe the allegations of corruption and criminality within the state-owned power utility. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said that the company was aware of the matter and that it would cooperate with the investigation.
The Eskom hitman case has highlighted the dangers faced by whistleblowers who attempt to expose wrongdoing within the troubled power utility, which has been plagued by financial and operational problems, as well as frequent load-shedding.
Source: News24