The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), known as the Hawks, has confirmed that it is investigating an alleged plot to kill Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
Motsoaledi had claimed that a paid assassin who was contracted to kill him had confessed to the alleged plot against his life.
The minister, who spoke to eNCA on Sunday, said he had received a call from the alleged hitman who told him he was hired to kill him.
Motsoaledi said he had received several threats from the hitman, and had handed the matter over to the Hawks.
The minister said: “An individual has recently been phoning me six to eight times a day to tell me that he has been sent to assassinate me.
“He added that he had already been paid, however, if I (Motsoaledi) paid him more, he would then go and kill those who sent him instead of me,” the minister said. “It was a bidding process.”
According to the minister, the would-be assassin was paid R40 000 to carry out the hit with the promise of another R60 000.
“I am taking this matter seriously, and that is why I immediately handed it over to the Hawks when the threat was made, who are investigating it and can give further information,” he said.
The minister said the alleged hitman had not given reasons why he was sent to kill him.
“He called me and told me that he has been given money and he wanted me to pay more. In other words, it was a bidding process. He was saying ‘I have received so much to kill you’,” he said.
According to the minister, a case of extortion or blackmail against the hitman was opened with the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria.
Sunday World reported that the man, known as Vusi, called the minister more than once in December 2022, telling him that he was promised R60 000 to carry out the hit.
Responding to The Mercury’s sister publication “The Star” on Monday, the spokesperson for the Hawks, Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, confirmed that the minister had registered a case at the Brooklyn SAPS.
“We as the Hawks can confirm that a case was registered at Brooklyn police station and it is still under investigation.
“However, no arrests have been made yet,” Mbambo said.
The minister’s spokesperson, Thabo Mokgola, had not responded to enquiries at the time of publication.
The Mercury