Councillor linked to Newcastle bombing faces charges
A 36-year-old councillor is due to appear in the Madadeni Magistrate's Court in northern KZN today in connection with the alleged bombing of a fellow councillor's home in Newcastle two years ago.
The Hawks say the Amajuba District Municipality councillor was arrested by the political task team on Saturday.
The explosion was initially thought to have been caused by bad plumbing but new information came to light in September.
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Hawks spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi says the man now faces charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, defeating the ends of justice and contravening the explosives act.
"At that time, there was no case reported. It was only reported to be a burst geyser. Investigations concluded and found that the councillor was responsible. There was information that we managed to gather using witnesses and as such, we had an operation where he was arrested - he has also been charged now," he says.
The Hawks say the councillors had a fallout before the attack, alleging the suspect wanted to prevent the victim from exposing corruption.