STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF MR TUTU MOLEFE

Mthuthuzeli Tutu Molefe

The murder of Mthuthuzeli Tutu Molefe, the Chairperson of the Evaton Development Forum and the first Deputy President of Santaco, has been widely condemned by the community of Evaton, the MEC for Local Government of Housing and the Premier of Gauteng. Mr Molefe was gunned down outside his home in Evaton on Friday 4th Septemer 2009. The police are investigating the matter.

Mr Molefe was well known for his involvement in the taxi industry. The role that he played in community development initiatives, like the Evaton Renewal Project however, it less known. In 2008 Mr Molefe was elected as chairperson of Evaton Development Forum (EDF). EDF is a community structure linked to Evaton Renewal Project (ERP), an initiative of Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing aimed at rebuilding one of the oldest townships in the Vaal region.

Mr Molefe was passionate about participating in local economic development and selflessly gave his time towards the Evaton Renewal Project. He worked hard towards ensuring that the development objectives of the project were met and played an important role in ensuring that there was greater consultation and participation in the project by the community and community structures of Evaton.

After he was elected to EDF, Molefe stated in one of his interviews that, “I consider myself not a leader but a servant of people of Evaton, and I will make sure that the Evaton Development Forum interacts regularly with all stakeholders including government and the community I serve.”

The General Secretary of the Evaton Development Forum, Themba Qinebe, described Mr Molefe as a courageous leader, whose influence and character was beginning to show in the project. Qinebe said that Tutu Molefe will be remembered for the strong stance he took in the fight against xenophobic attacks that ravaged South Africa last year. His leadership ensured that Evaton and the surrounding areas recorded very low incidents of xenophobic attacks. In one of the marches he organized he said, “It would be very unfair to chase immigrants away. Some of these targeted people have never been to their country of origin because they were born in South Africa and are now part of our lives,” he said.