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There’s no one who can place the DP (former deputy president) in the scene of crime. Okay, they said it was me killing people, but they can’t place me in the scene of crime. – Welcome Nkuna

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Sizwe sama Yende

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Late deputy president David Mabuza’s protégé, Welcome Nkuna, who ended up being part of his security detail, has revealed how he was almost arrested on suspicions of having killed a ‘hitman’ allegedly hired to assassinate political rivals.

WATCH PODCAST: DD raised me. I protected him

The so-called Mozambican hitman, nicknamed Josh, was never found yet Mabuza’s legacy as premier of Mpumalanga cannot be disconnected from this character whose existence is a legend.

Josh became known after an affidavit he allegedly drafted through the assistance of late ANCYL leader, James Nkambule, and not before any police officer, detailed his confession of how Mabuza and a soccer boss hired him to eliminate his political rivals.

Due to this, the issue of political killings dominated Mabuza’s tenure as Mpumalanga premier and dwarfed his achievements such as infrastructural development, educating 100s of young people and building houses for poor families from his own pocket.

Josh confirmed in the affidavit that he was sent to assassinate former City of Mbombela speaker, Jimmy Mohlala, who fatally shot in 2009 for blowing the whistle on tender corruption in the R1.2 billion Mbombela World Cup stadium.

Nkambule died of poisoning in 2010 when he was due to appear in court on charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice emanating from fabricating the Josh affidavit.

He was the same man who caused a storm in 2001 by claiming that ANC veterans – President Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale and Mathews Phosa – were conspiring to topple then president, Thabo Mbeki. At that time, the trio was not in active politics and pursuing their business ventures.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Nkuna said in an exclusive interview with The People’s Eye that police were working on information that he had killed a wrong man in Oshoek that he thought was Josh.

He said the police had a photo of a wrong Mercedes Benz they thought was his and had crossed the Mozambican border.

“Police were ready to arrest me. They said I killed a wrong man in Oshoek in pursuit of Josh. They said I was going to a funeral in Mozambique where Josh was. I had Mercedes Benz C200, but the photo they had was of a C180 and its mag rims were different from mine,” Nkuna said.

Nkuna said that police were sent to guard him and he was warned that rogue police intended to arrest and kill him.

Nkuna said that fingers pointed at him as murderer who helped eliminated Mabuza’s rivals.

“There’s no one who can place the DP (former deputy president) in the scene of crime. Okay, they said it was me killing people, but they can’t place me in the scene of crime,” he said.

FATHER FIGURE

In the interview, Nkuna reveals that Mabuza played a father figure in his life and had taught him in Phola near Hazyview where he was a schoolteacher.

He then went to work with him as his first bodyguard when Mabuza was Mpumalanga MEC.

Reflecting on the turbulent period of Mabuza’s reign in Mpumalanga, Nkuna said that Mabuza knew that tough times awaited him when he received a text message on December 25 2008 indicating that senior ANC officials wanted to see him removed.

Mabuza had just been elected provincial ANC chairperson and would be premier after the general elections. “That message gave him the roadmap. After that text, everything broke loose. Most people he was close to betrayed him,” Nkuna said.

A UNIFIER

Mabuza was buried on Saturday, 12 July 2025, on his farm in Barberton.

President Ramaphosa described Mabuza as a unifier. “He stood firm for the unity of his movement, the ANC, and it was his lifelong dream to see a strong, united ANC. David Mabuza leaves behind a legacy of someone who sought to ensure that the centre held,” Ramaphos said.

Ramaphosa said that his former second in command of five years left a legacy of being quick to respond to matters of service delivery.

He said that today in Mpumalanga, there were families who now lived in decent homes because during door-to-door campaigns, Mabuza intervened on the spot and at some point, dug into his own pockets to meet their needs.

“I had the privilege of serving alongside DD for five years in government, and during this time I came to know him as a person who understood the responsibility that he had been given,” Ramaphosa said.

“He was dependable, reliable and an excellent deputy. As Leader of Government Business in Parliament he worked to ensure that the will of the people was reflected in the laws of the land and in the programmes of the state. In all his responsibilities as Deputy President, from land reform to HIV and AIDS, from anti-poverty initiatives to addressing the needs of veterans, David Mabuza could always be relied on,” he said.