South African authorities have foiled an alleged assassination plot targeting a senior government official who had reportedly been trying to stop corruption involving the illegal sale of state-funded houses, leading to the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of a cache of firearms.
The suspects, 49-year-old Thulani Ndwandwe and 48-year-old Tonia Hlongwane, an administrative clerk with the Department of Human Settlements, were apprehended by operatives of the Hawks’ East Rand Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) unit following an intensive investigation launched in 2024.
The investigation was triggered by a formal complaint lodged by the Department of Human Settlements official, who alleged that hitmen had been sent after the official for attempting to block internal corruption involving the illegal sale of government Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses to non-beneficiaries.
According to the Hawks, the intimidation campaign escalated to include repeated failed ambush attempts, telephonic death threats and a shooting incident before investigators identified the alleged perpetrators and secured warrants for their arrest.
Ndwandwe was arrested in Mpumalanga province on July 2. A search of his property uncovered an AK-47 assault rifle, four 9mm pistols, an automatic pump-action shotgun, two .308 high-calibre rifles and an air rifle.
Although the firearms were reportedly licensed, police confiscated the weapons and ammunition for ballistic testing to determine whether they had been used in other violent crimes.
The following day, Hawks investigators, assisted by the Digital Forensic Investigation Unit, arrested Hlongwane at the Department of Human Settlements offices in Alberton.
Police allege that Hlongwane was the internal mastermind behind the assassination plot. Investigators also seized four laptops and seven mobile phones for forensic examination as part of the probe.
The Hawks said the suspects appeared before the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where they were remanded in custody until July 13, 2026, for a formal bail application.
The duo face charges of conspiracy to commit murder under Section 18(2)(a) of South Africa’s Riotous Assemblies Act.
The Hawks described the operation as a significant breakthrough in the fight against corruption and organised violent crime, saying it had prevented the planned assassination of a public servant who had sought to expose corruption within the housing sector.