Sphelo Samuel returns to the hot seat on Thursday for cross-examination in public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s impeachment inquiry.
Parliament’s Section 194 Committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi halted the hearing on Wednesday after he learned that Samuel was not feeling well. Advocate Dali Mpofu, who represents Mkhwebane, is expected to grill Samuel after he made damning claims against Mkhwebane.
Samuels, who is on the public protector’s black book, corroborated the first witness Teboho Kekana’s testimony on Wednesday that Mkhwebane had been fiddling with reports to protect politicians.
Samuels specifically shone the light on the Vrede Dairy Farm scandal, revealing that former Free State premier Ace Magashule and former agriculture MEC Mosebenzi Zwane were implicated in the investigations.
He said he made the findings that Magashule and Zwane were culpable and had to be held liable because they had overall responsibility, noting that the duo would not respond to the investigators no matter how much they tried to get hold of them.
Samuel further testified that Mkhwebane would also not allow them to issue subpoenas for the two politicians to account for their misconduct, adding that she instructed him not to make findings against politicians who had to account for the Vrede Dairy Farm crimes.
Samuel also said their names were included in the revised version of the report, however, the findings did not make it to Mkhwebane’s final report. “In that report, I basically disobeyed the directive of the public protector that we should not make findings against politicians,” he said.
Samuel was recently reinstated as the head of the public protector’s office in the Free State after he was subjected to a disciplinary hearing by Mkhwebane on allegations of misconduct and financial mismanagement in 2020.
He was cleared by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in June. The CCMA granted an order that he be reinstated to his post and that he must receive backpay to the tune of R1.5-million.
Also read: Mkhwebane’s impeachment inquiry resumes on Wednesday
Mpofu accuses first witness Kekana of retaliation for his dismissal
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
