Unfortunately, the news surrounding South Africa’s World Cup preparations has an added chapter involving murder and corruption in one of the host cities.
According to numerous news sources, Jimmy Mohlala and his 19 year old son were shot at their home late Sunday in the town of Nelspruit in the Mpumalanga province in northeast part of the country.
Mohlala died but his son survived the attack. Mohlala was a former vice president of the South African Football Association and headed the local council of the Mbombela municipality, where the stadium is being built in Nelspruit for the World Cup.
Mohlala came into prominence last February, when he blew the whistle on Mbombela municipal manager, Jacob Dladla. Mohlala exposed Dladla’s alleged corrupt activities to the Mbombela local council. Dladla was accused of the manipulation of tenders for World Cup construction contracts, harassment of council employees, and failure to keep the council updated on progress regarding projects related to the World Cup.
Mohlala’s claims caused friction amongst his fellow African National Congress members who called for him to be fired after he exposed Dladla’s activities. Reports say that the ANC tried to cover up Dladla’s alleged corruption but the ANC denies such cover up charges. Mohlala was also caught in controversy as well, in July of 2008, when he was charged with the alleged rape of a 14 year old girl. The assailants are still loose and no reports have been released indicating the motive in Mohlala’s death.
In a statement, the head of South Africa’s organising committee, Danny Jordaan, said that Mohlala’s death was a “huge setback” for organising the event in Nelspruit. The 46,000-capacity Mbombela stadium, scheduled for completion this year, is one of 10 venues for the 2010 World Cup.
The news of this shooting is a big blow for South Africa’s image. The nation had already been suffering in the P.R. department since it was awarded the 2010 World Cup, this incident will almost certainly raise more questions & scrutiny from the world media about South Africa’s ability to host a safe and secure World Cup.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
aaaah Africa! I weep for you.
I WENT TO JO-BERG LAST YEAR bring on the world cup.s.a will be a GOOD host