KNYSNA NEWS - Former Ward 4 councillor Velile Waxa says he intends to consult with his attorneys following some false social media reports claiming that he had been shot and killed during the fatal Bongani shooting on Thursday 20 August, in which Mandla Matiwane (48) and Mandla Tyololo (48) were killed.
In an exclusive interview with Knysna-Plett Herald, Waxa refuted the reports and said the photograph circulated with the claims was an old image of him taken in 2018. According to Waxa, the false reports caused significant distress and confusion among family members in Queenstown and Cape Town. "Messages and calls started streaming in non-stop about my alleged death as news broke of the shooting," he said.
What initially shocked him, he said, was receiving a call asking whether he was OK. His family was equally surprised when he responded to their messages, as some people believed he had been killed alongside Matiwane and Tyololo.
"I was at home with my family like on any other day," Waxa said.
He further said he had no personal relationship or affiliation with either of the deceased. Waxa explained that he knew Matiwane from his time as a teacher at Percy Mdala High School, where Matiwane had been a learner. Tyololo had, according to Waxa, been contracted through another person to transport a football team Waxa had managed.
Waxa said he had left the ANC in 2016 and had since cut all ties with the party. He has been nominated as a Ward 4 councillor candidate for the newly formed Knysna Civic Alliance.
Waxa appealed to the community and all political parties, particularly the ANC, to allow police investigations to take their course without political influence or interference.
Waxa was previously arrested in connection with the Victor Molosi murder case of 2018 and was later acquitted. He said he had nothing to gain from Molosi's death and similarly rejected any suggestion that he had anything to gain from the deaths of former Knysna mayor Aubrey Tsengwa, Matiwane or Tyololo.
Waxa also expressed his condolences to Tsengwa's family, saying he had known the former mayor and his family well.
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