Gangster State

according to a Mail & Guardian report.^2 One of the new appointees
was Beatrice Marshoff, who became MEC for social development.^3
Although Direko effected the cabinet reshuffle, Marshoff’s inclusion in
the executive council was ‘widely’ viewed as having been influenced by
Ngombane’s ILC.^4 The move was also a precursor to her later
replacement of Direko as Free State premier. Ngombane has therefore
been described as the man who ‘helped’ Marshoff ‘into the top spot’.^5
This view would later be a key ingredient in the political tension
around Ngombane.
Ngombane ‘bailed out’ of the ILC in 2001 , before the provincial
conference to be held the following year, recalled his widow. ‘He was
getting too frustrated,’ she explained. ‘He had a mandate to build the
branches in the province and strike a balance between the two factions,
but he could not make any inroads in this regard.’
Ngombane returned to the provincial government, but his days of
locking horns with political foes were far from over. He took a job as
head of department (HOD) at Economic Development, Tourism and
Environmental Affairs, where he clashed with MEC Sakhiwo Belot.
According to Nokwanda, appointments were made in Belot’s
department without following proper processes, and this led to friction.
Belot later became a special advisor to Magashule.^6
A KPMG report highlighted the tension between Ngombane and
Belot, and recommended that one or both leave the department.^7 Belot
subsequently made way for Benny Malakoane, but the shuffle did not
bring the department’s problems to an end. In fact, Nokwanda said the
fighting between her husband and the new MEC was worse.
Ngombane had by then established himself as an official who
respected the rules and laws that govern public bodies, including the