Shooter to plead guilty
TRAUMATIC: Shooting at an Athlone plant in 2022. File photo
Nearly a year after the horrific shooting which rocked a City water plant in Athlone, the alleged gunman plans to plead guilty to killing a woman and injuring three others.
This was revealed at the Western Cape High Court where Ivan Magokane appeared in the dock last week. He faces one count of murder, three of attempted murders and pointing of a firearm.
The shooting at the water and waste plant in March 2022 left workers traumatised after Magokane allegedly fired wildly at staff in search of his ex, Shirley Malema.
According to the indictment, the couple started dating in 2014 and got engaged a year later.
In February last year, Shirley ended the relationship and moved from Pretoria to Cape Town after landing a job.
“The end of their relationship was also imminent due to the consistent verbal, physical and emotional abuse,” the court documents read. It further states that Magokane would often visit Malema to see his son.
On March 28, 2022 while at work at the plant in Athlone, Shirley was contacted by her colleague Johanna Mpharu Hloyi, who told her that Magokane was there to see her.
She feared for her safety and called the police as she knew he had a firearm. Things became heated when Hloyi tried to mediate between the couple. Magokane allegedly then took out his firearm and shot Hloyi in the head.
He then fired at Malema, wounding her and two other staffers who came to see what was happening.
During court proceedings, the State prosecutor revealed that plans were underway for a plea deal but they were not ready to accept the offer from Ivan’s defence lawyer.
The case was postponed to October 20 for another pre-trial.
Mayco member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, says the shooting left staff traumatised, as Magokane was also known to the staff.
“This caused us to re-evaluate and put additional security measures in place to safeguard our staff,” he added.