Gangster State

government’s municipal infrastructure grant and the expanded public
works programme.
Ngombane’s proposed oversight of municipalities’ spending no doubt
made him enemies within the northern and southern factions, who had
apparently both been tapping into municipal resources.
Nokwanda believes the proposed centralisation of municipal spending
sealed her husband’s fate. ‘That is why he is dead,’ she said. ‘It was
about money and not really about politics.’
From Marshoff’s vantage point, it appeared as if Magashule’s
northern faction was more vocal and transparent about their hatred for
Ngombane. ‘He died because he was close to me. They saw him as
their biggest threat,’ she told me.
Another issue was a decision by the then premier to move a few
HODs to new departments. The reshuffle was intended to improve the
functioning of the affected departments, but some of the HODs were
unhappy with their redeployment and even took Marshoff to court. The
Magashule-led PEC accused the premier of making important
governance decisions without consulting the party’s provincial
leadership.^10
Nokwanda said her husband was thrust right into the middle of this
fracas despite playing no role in the reshuffle. ‘They [the northerners]
were asking if Noby was running the show. They had somehow gotten
the idea that he was behind the reshuffle,’ she said.
Towards the end of 2004 , the political discord in the province once
again became serious enough for the ANC’s national leadership to
intervene. As previously mentioned, a delegation of ANC leaders, led
by Mbeki sidekick Essop Pahad, met with Marshoff and Magashule in
Bloemfontein in November.