Cape Town - Concerns over the safety of City of Cape Town manager Lungelo Mbandazayo have arisen amid reports that alleged 28s gang members were found near his home with military-type weapons over the weekend.
Just days after the shocking arrest of seven suspects, including a woman, an official has revealed that safety teams were suspicious of the motives of the gunmen.
The group were arrested by the Maitland Flying Squad in Ringwood Drive on Friday night.
They were found driving two vehicles, a VW T-Cross and a Mercedes-Benz, when they were spotted and searched by police.
At the time, police confirmed the arrests and said it was a suspected retaliation attack after one of the suspects had been shot a week earlier.
They confiscated an AK-47 rifle with 28 rounds of ammunition and an Uzi semi-automatic machine pistol with 25 rounds of ammunition. But a source said City officials believed the plot was way more sinister than retaliation attacks between gang members.
“These guys were caught just metres from the City manager’s home and there are too many questions here. And we don’t believe their story about a retaliation attack.
“A couple of months ago, information was leaked to the media about the City manager’s protection detail due to the investigations in the Human Settlements Department and the links to Ralph Stanfield and his wife.
“Now gunmen are found just metres from his home.
“Why would gunmen busy with a simple attack move around with such high-calibre weapons unless they knew they would have to get past police officers to get their target?
“Table View is not a place which has many gang shootings and if there is one it’s a random isolated incident.”
The source says the timing of the arrest was also problematic as it came just one day after one of the construction bosses charged alongside former Mayco Member Malusi Booi was murdered.
“The arrest of Abdul Kader Davids came amid the same investigation undertaken by the City manager into tender collusion and just a day after he gets shot people are caught near the City manager’s house with those kinds of weapons,” the source said.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said officials have now profiled all those arrested and revealed they are also alleged members of the Boko Haram gang.
“When the arrest happened our teams were notified immediately and acted. We made sure we dispatched extra resources and they were profiled and it was revealed that they are also members of the Boko Haram gang.”
Smith said they cannot say for sure that the gunmen were targeting Mbandazayo but said the circumstances were highly suspicious.
Mbandazayo revealed to the Cape Argus that he had last year blacklisted a long list of companies found to be either owned by or associated with Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson.
The mammoth investigation came amid the murder of City staffer Wendy Kloppers, who was shot and killed at a housing site in Delft amid extortion attempts.
In recent months, Mbandazayo has been revealing steps taken against contractors, individuals and officials allegedly linked to the construction Mafia. This includes revealing the tender collusion between individuals such as Johnson and Davids.
The issue reached boiling point in the past two weeks when cops pounced on Booi, the directors of various companies, City officials and a staff member working for Johnson.
As striking similarities between Mbandazayo’s investigation and the State’s case against Booi and his co-accused start to unravel, it has been confirmed that the former political bigwig is set to stand trial alongside the notorious duo.
The State alleges that he received R2.5 million in hard cash from the couple and Rolex watches valued at R2m in exchange for assisting their companies to obtain government tenders worth a whopping R1 billion.
In a bold move several months ago, Mbandazayo warned that he would not allow the underworld to continue infiltrating City departments.