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Tributes are pouring in for murdered member of Parliament Sibusiso Radebe.
Radebe – who was described as “an incomparable servant of our people” – was shot and killed during an attempted hijacking in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, on Tuesday night.
“May [his family] find solace in the knowledge that we painfully share their loss and thank them for having loaned the ANC and the country this incomparable servant of our people,” ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu’s spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli said on Wednesday.
Radebe joined Parliament in 2009 and served on the portfolio committee on higher education and training and the portfolio committee on energy. At the time of his death he served on the portfolio committee on transport.
The transport committee’s chairperson, Dikeledi Magadzi, said Radebe’s youthfulness and courage always showed in the committee deliberations.
“Sbu was a driven young member who had a bright future in Parliament. The committee has lost this giant young person and it is hurting. The committee will miss his aggressive but frank style of engaging,” Magadzi said.
“He was fearless and always saw life and his work in a positive way. I am speaking on behalf of the committee when I say South Africa has lost; death has robbed Parliament again.”
Magadzi called on law enforcement agencies to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime were brought to book. “We want our people to live in a peaceful country where the lives of all individuals are appreciated. Each time a person is killed in this manner, South Africa loses in one way or another.”
She said committee deliberations will never be the same without Radebe’s participation.
The DA said it was also saddened by his passing. “Radebe will be lovingly remembered by his family, friends and the ANC as a servant of the people who worked hard to improve the lives of South Africans.
“The DA extends its deepest condolences to the ANC caucus as well as the friends, family and community of Sibusiso Radebe. May his soul rest in peace,” the DA said. Police were searching for two people in connection with the 40-year-old politician’s murder.
Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said the incident happened at about 7.30pm on Tuesday.
“Preliminary reports indicate that the deceased was with another person in a vehicle parked in Carbon Street, Lindhaven when two suspects allegedly approached the vehicle and opened fire, fatally wounding the deceased, while his companion managed to escape uninjured,” she said.
“The suspects reportedly made off in a Ford Fiesta, dark in colour, with unknown registration.”
The motive is still unknown.
Radebe served as deputy secretary of the Congress of South African Students’ in Mpumalanga in 1994. He also served as chairperson of the South African Students’ Congress at the Tshwane University of Technology in 1998. In 2002, he was part of a team tasked with establishing branches of the Young Communist League in Mpumalanga. He was elected as one of the first district secretaries in the Gert Sibande District.
In 2008 Radebe was elected provincial treasurer of the ANC Youth League in Mpumalanga. – Additional reporting by News24
