A former DA councillor in the Makhado Municipality, Itani Sikhwari, has finally responded to allegations that he sold houses meant for the poor in Tshikota, while he was not the legal owner of the houses. Talking to Limpopo Mirror on Tuesday, he said such allegations were likely to surface considering that it was election time, but that it was nothing other than a smear campaign.

Mr Sikhwari, formerly the Democratic Alliance's PR councillor, denied that he was involved in the illegal selling of houses. He also denied any knowledge of an investigation by the Hawks into the alleged transactions. Sikhwari said that if the Hawks were investigating him, he would have known about it by now and that they would have contacted him. “I know nothing about the investigations. I haven’t received anything from the police or Hawks. I was surprised to read about it in the newspaper,” he said.

In an article that appeared in the Limpopo Mirror two weeks ago, it was reported that Sikhwari left the DA to join the ANC. This was also denied by Sikhwari, who insisted that he is still a member of the DA, even though he had resigned as councillor. He said that he had resigned because of the internal politics within the organisation, not the allegations, and that he wanted to focus on his personal businesses.

The story had another twist last week, when the reporter who wrote the initial story, Kaizer Nengovhela, received threatening phone calls from an unidentified caller. Nengovhela reported the matter to the police and laid a charge of intimidation. The investigation is continuing.

Two DA members, Benny and Bercie Jones, visited the newspaper's offices the following Monday, accusing Nengovhela of implicating them in the threats he (Nengovhela) had allegedly received. They assured Nengovhela that they had no reason to threaten him or any other reporter. A delegation comprising the Jones couple and Cllr Brian du Plooy, visited the newspaper's offices on Thursday, during which it was emphasized that they do not condone any type of intimidation.

Itani Sikhwari also distanced himself from any caller who may have threatened Nengovhela. He said the journalist was his friend and that he even sent him a message telling him to do his job without fear.  “When I came here (Limpopo Mirror’s newsroom) last Monday, I was just visiting Kaizer to discuss some personal things with him, but to my surprise I learnt that I was implicated in another issue of threatening him,” he said. “I believe this is a plot meant to sabotage and tarnish my image. I mean this because I never threatened anyone, and I was never involved in those scandals,” he said.

The leader of the DA in Limpopo, Jacques Smalle, confirmed that Mr Sikhwari had resigned as councillor. He also confirmed that the DA was investigating the allegations lodged against Sikhwari when he was still a councillor. He said that Sikhwari was no longer holding any position in the party and that he would remain just an ordinary member of the organisation until his membership expired at the end of May.

“Sikhwari was suspended from the party during the time of the investigations, but at the end of March he resigned. Allegations need to be proven and as a party we took appropriate action,” said Smalle.

According to Smalle, they heard that he had taken up membership of the ANC and it was even announced during a municipal council meeting that Sikhwari had joined the ruling party.

Smalle said that the DA would like the authorities to investigate the allegations against Sikhwari fully. He added that the people who had complained about the possible fraud had been advised to take the matter further and lay charges with the police.