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Zille helps DA candidate reopen death threat case in Dobsonville

Published

DA ward candidate Mandla Nyaqela says police first turned him away when he tried to report a death threat made over his campaigning. Police now say a case of intimidation has been opened after Helen Zille went with him on Friday.

Nyaqela, 45, is the DA candidate for Ward 48 in Dobsonville, Soweto. He says a man known to him threatened to kill him at his home if he kept campaigning for the DA. He says the man said people like him must be killed.

Nyaqela says officers at the Dobsonville police station refused to help him and said there was no case. Zille, the DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, went with him to the station on Friday to reopen the matter. She said: "When someone makes a death threat, I take it very seriously."

Gauteng police spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said Nyaqela was assisted after Zille stepped in. She said: "No person should be turned away when seeking to report a crime at any police station in South Africa."

Key facts

Who
Mandla Nyaqela (DA ward candidate in Dobsonville (Ward 48) who claims he received a death threat); Helen Zille (DA mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg who intervened in the matter); Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi (Gauteng police spokesperson); Mmusi Maimane (former DA leader and BOSA leader, mentioned as coming from Ward 48)
What
Ward candidate Mandla Nyaqela says a man threatened to kill him at his Dobsonville home over his DA campaigning, and that police initially refused to open a case. Zille intervened, and police say a case of intimidation has now been opened.
When
23 October 2026
Where
Dobsonville, Soweto, Johannesburg
Status
Reported

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