Concerns over the safety of City of Cape Town manager, Lungelo Mbandazayo, have heightened after alleged 28s gang members were arrested just metres away from his Table View home on Friday night.
Days after the arrest of seven suspects, including a woman, an official has revealed that they believe a planned hit on Mbandazayo may have been foiled.
The group was busted by the Maitland Flying Squad in Ringwood Drive.
They were found driving two vehicles, namely a VW Polo T-Cross and a Mercedes Benz when they were spotted and searched by cops.
Police confirmed their arrest and said it was a suspected gang retaliation attack after one of the suspects had been shot a week earlier.
They confiscated an AK-47 rifle with 28 rounds of ammunition and an Uzi semi-automatic gun with 25 rounds of ammunition.
But a source says City officials believe the plot is way more sinister.
The source tells the Daily Voice: "These guys were caught just metres from the City Manager's home and there are too many questions here and we don’t believe their story about a retaliation attack.
“A couple of months ago, information was leaked to the media about the City Manager’s protection detail due to the investigations in the Human Settlements department and the links to Ralph Stanfield and his wife.
“Now gunmen are found just metres from his home. Why would gunmen busy with a simple attack move around with such high-calibre weapons unless they knew they would have to get past police officers to get their target?
“Table View is not a place which has many gang shootings and if there is one, it's a random isolated incident."
The source says the timing of the arrest is also problematic as it came just a day after one of the construction bosses charged alongside former Mayco Member Malusi Booi was murdered in Mitchells Plain.
The insider adds: "The arrest of Abdul Kader Davids came amid the same investigation undertaken by the City Manager into tender collusion and just a day after he gets shot, people are caught near the City Manager's house with those kind of weapons?
“The City Manager already lives like a prisoner in his own home because he undertook this investigation and it is his work that uncovered the truth.“
Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, says the seven suspects have been profiled and it was revealed that they are also alleged members of the Boko Haram gang.
Smith reveals: "We have beefed up the security at the home of the City Manager.
“I won't go into any further details but we have established that the vehicles used were caught on CCTV cameras and showed they had circled the area for a considerable amount of time.
“We cannot say for sure that he was a target but the circumstances are very suspicious. We are working closely with SAPS."
During 2023, Mbandazayo revealed that he had blacklisted a long list of companies found to be either owned by or associated with Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson, following an intense investigation into the construction mafia and tender collusion.
The issue reached boiling point in the past two weeks when cops pounced on Booi, directors of various companies, City officials and a staff member working for Johnson.
The State alleges that Booi received R2.5 million in cash from the couple, as well as gifts valued at R2 million, in exchange for assisting their companies to obtain government tenders worth a whopping R1 billion.