Gangster State

Bloemfontein, according to his diary. The premier’s schedule at that
time was dominated by party-political events. The previous week,
police minister and fellow Free State local Fikile Mbalula had publicly
attacked Magashule on social media after it became clear that the
premier was going to make a run at becoming the ANC’s new
secretary-general.^3 Magashule had hit back at Mbalula at a Provincial
General Council (PGC) meeting in Bloemfontein on the weekend
before Mpambani’s murder.^4 With about six months left before the
ANC’s elective conference at Nasrec, Magashule’s latest political battle
was now really heating up. The premier needed every ounce of support
he could find, financially and otherwise. Mpambani, with his riches
from the asbestos auditing contract and even more money heading his
way thanks to 605 Consulting’s latest project, no doubt formed part of
Magashule’s financial planning for his upcoming battle to become
secretary-general. There is good reason to suspect that the R 1 million
Mpambani withdrew shortly before his death was intended for
Magashule.
One of the slain businessman’s former associates told me about an
interesting development that took place the day before his death. On
Monday morning, 19 June, Mpambani apparently received a phone call
instructing him to be in Bloemfontein the following day. ‘Igo was very
secretive about his dealings in the Free State, but he told me he was
going to meet with someone from Ace’s office. That was the last time I
saw him alive,’ this source told me.
Back in Bloemfontein on that Monday morning, Magashule had a
‘meeting with alliance’ at the ANC’s Free State headquarters, according
to his diary. If the premier or someone in his circle had phoned
Mpambani, subsequent developments suggest that the conversation