Rhoode ‘to blame for Shongwe’s death’

THE head of the Presidential Protection Service, General Wally Rhoode, is accused of ignoring several requests to upgrade Deputy President David Mabuza’s “worn-out” car fleet before a long-serving protector lost his life in an accident two weeks ago.

Mabuza’s 56-year-old protector, Thomas Shongwe, died on the scene when a rear tyre of the car he was travelling in with colleagues reportedly burst, causing the vehicle to roll several times along the freeway in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, while the convoy was travelling to Gauteng.

Shongwe’s colleague, Captain Joshua Maloka, who was also in the car, is still fighting for his life in hospital after having an arm amputated after it was severely injured in the accident.

Warrant Officer Vincent Sethibela, who was driving the vehicle, also sustained injuries and has been discharged from the hospital.

Mabuza’s convoy has been involved in three accidents in three different provinces this year alone. The first accident happened in Cape Town on February 17 when Phillip Makgatlo, who was on a motorbike, was injured. He is not back at work yet and is still recovering from his injuries.

The second accident occurred in Midrand, Gauteng, on July 27 when two vehicles collided with each other. The officials sustained minor injuries. The most recent accident, which claimed Shongwe’s life, happened in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, on November 20.

Mabuza wasn’t injured in any of the accidents. One of Mabuza’s protectors, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said this week that Rhoode must take full responsibility for Shongwe’s death after he allegedly ignored several requests to replace Mabuza’s motorcade.

“Wally has blood on his hands. We made several requests, even official letters were written by the deputy president’s office, asking him to replace the current fleet because it is worn out, but he did nothing about it,” the bodyguard said. The protector added that it was a miracle that Mabuza was still alive and hadn’t been injured in any of the accidents.

“When the deputy president gets into these vehicles he isn’t sure whether he will arrive at his destination on time or alive. The situation is bad and his security has been compromised several times because of these accidents and breakdowns,” he said.

Mabuza’s motorcade had several breakdowns while he was en route to official engagements. The motorcade broke down while he was on his way to a Human Rights Day event this year. Mabuza was delayed en route to an official engagement when his main vehicle broke down on October 11, 2021, compromising his security.

A source with intimate knowledge of the Presidential Protection Service claims that Rhoode has been undermining Mabuza after there was a fallout between “the cat”, as the deputy president is known, and President Cyril Ramaphosa. “Rhoode is not taking the security of Mabuza seriously and only attends to Ramaphosa’s security needs and requests,” the source said.

The source said that late in 2021 the last apartheid president, FW de Klerk, requested that his wife, Elita Georgiades, be taken care of after his death.

“This request is currently being honoured and facilitated by Rhoode. Two bodyguards are currently assigned to Georgiades, which was not the case when De Klerk was alive,” he said.

“Georgiades lives in her private house somewhere in Cape Town and has 24/7 police protection from the Presidential Protection Service under the command of Rhoode. She further has a Mercedes limousine allocated for her use, which is one of the VIP fleet vehicles,” he said.

Rhoode referred all questions to SAPS. No response was received from the SAPS spokesperson.

The source added that Georgiades frequently travelled abroad and a

bodyguard was assigned to travel with her at an enormous cost in terms of accommodation alone.

A police general, who asked not to be named because he isn’t allowed to speak to the media, said the alleged preferential treatment that De Klerk’s widow received from Rhoode had left members of Mabuza’s security team fuming.

The general added that the SANDF should also be blamed because it had so far failed to provide Mabuza with Air Force transportation. “Mabuza’s convoy has clocked so many kilometres because they are always driving him around, even long distances.

“Even the national police commissioner has access to the SAPS private jet but such courtesy hasn’t been extended to the deputy president of the country by the Air Force. Some of the ministers, MECs and mayors are driven around in better cars, some of them even brand new,” the general said.

The head of Mabuza’s office, Thamsanqa Ngwenya, refused to answer any question regarding Mabuza’s fleet and referred all the questions to Rhoode.

Mabuza is tipped to become the president if Ramaphosa resigns following the damning findings of the Section 89 Independent Panel appointed by the Speaker of Parliament to investigate whether the president has a case to answer on the Phala Phala farm scandal.