Deputy President David Mabuza has refuted allegations that he was involved in organised crimes during his tenure as the MEC in Mpumalanga in the early 2000s.
This after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) filed a criminal complaint against Mabuza on Tuesday.
In the complaint referred to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) investigating directorate, Outa alleges that Mabuza committed theft, fraud, perjury, and intimidation.
The crimes include a land claims scam of over R35-billion and the killing of wildlife.
According to Mabuza’s office, this is another Fred Daniel attempt at bringing him down based on unfounded claims. The office said on Wednesday that the conservationist has been gunning for Mabuza’s head and has lost a number of battles in the matter.
“This complaint is a regurgitation of old allegations of Mr Fred Daniel, which have been and continue to be litigated in other courts, including the high court. Every application that Mr Daniel has filed against the deputy president has been rejected with punitive costs. The judicial system has found him to be a dishonest litigant who takes advantage of the system,” said the deputy president’s office.
It added that the claims are false and hold no merit.
“The allegations they have now made to the NPA were encapsulated in previous false criminal charges brought against the deputy president. The directorate for priority crime investigation and the specialised commercial court prosecutors declined to prosecute anyone because of the false charges. Similarly, the allegations in this complaint are completely false and without merit.
“In the current civil litigation brought by Mr Daniel, the deputy president is not even a respondent in his personal capacity. Records of the civil case are available for anyone to see how Mr Daniel has been exposed for who he is,” it said.
Mabuza, who is disappointed at Outa, has reiterated his stance on corruption, saying that if anyone has any evidence of wrongdoing on his part, they need to refer the matter to the relevant authorities for the law to take its course.
“The deputy president is utterly disappointed that an organisation of the stature of Outa would take the extraordinary step of associating with those whom the courts have pronounced to be abusing the legal system, including those who are eager to discredit the deputy president in order to further their own nefarious goals.
“On countless occasions, including before parliament, the deputy president has maintained that if anyone has any evidence of wrongdoing on his part, they should bring the case to the attention of the appropriate law-enforcement agencies. The deputy president stands by this statement and is not naive about the true motives of the complaint.
“The deputy president remains confident that the courts will dispense with this flagrant abuse of the criminal justice system expeditiously, allowing the nation to focus on matters that will improve the lives of South Africans,” said the office of Mabuza.
Also read: Outa guns for Mabuza in criminal complaint to NPA
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