James Nkambule

James Vusumuzi Nkambule (1 January 1973 – 7 October 2010) was a South African politician who served as provincial secretary of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in Mpumalanga, elected at the league’s inaugural provincial conference in May 1998. Nkambule gained notoriety and became a media sensation for making wild claims and for his outspoken criticism of senior leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) and his involvement in factional battles within the party under president Thabo Mbeki. He first rose to prominence in 2001 when he alleged that three senior ANC figures - Mathews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale, and Cyril Ramaphosa -were plotting to overthrow Mbeki. The claim was later dismissed by a police and intelligence services investigation.

In 2006, he was expelled from both the ANC and the ANCYL after an internal disciplinary hearing found him guilty of bringing the party into disrepute and violating its constitution. Two years later, in 2008, he joined the Congress of the People (Cope) and became its leader in Ehlanzeni region, a position he held until his death from suspected poisoning in 2010.

In 2010, Nkambule made headlines again when he claimed that a series of assassinations in Mpumalanga were linked to corruption surrounding the R2-billion Mbombela stadium construction project for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He alleged that prominent politicians had hired assassins to silence whistleblowers exposing irregularities in the tendering process, including Mbombela municipal speaker Jimmy Mohlala who was shot dead for exposing irregularities in the government project.