Eastern Cape premier and ANC provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane has fingered President Cyril Ramaphosa in a high court application where he is challenging an investigation by the special investigating unit (SIU) into allegations of qualifications’ fraud at the University of Fort Hare.
In a dramatic twist that has shocked many, Mabuyane, a key Ramaphosa ally in ANC factional groupings, wants the court to declare unlawful and invalid the president’s proclamation that gave the SIU the green light to start the investigation in 2022.
Mabuyane argues that Ramaphosa had no legal standing to issue the proclamation, stating that universities fall outside his ambit but within the ministry of higher education.
Therefore he believes that the SIU, which he says has started investigating him, should be interdicted from doing so on an urgent basis as part A of the application.
In part B, said Mabuyane in court papers, Ramaphosa’s proclamation must be nullified, which would bring a premature end to the SIU investigation he believes is illegal.
Mabuyane is affected by the investigation of the controversy surrounding his registration for a master’s degree at Fort Hare, for which he was abruptly deregistered after the university found that he did not qualify since he did not possess an honour’s degree.
The premier, who is also a member of a powerful ANC lobby bloc known as the Chris Hani Region Cabal that includes ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele, disagrees.
“I applied for admission into a master’s programme in Fort Hare’s faculty of public administration. I was admitted. After a dubious process and without any sound reason, I was deregistered,” writes Mabuyane in his founding affidavit.
“My deregistration was patently unlawful and based on unfounded grounds. I did not challenge Fort Hare’s illegal decision at the time. However, my deregistration has enjoyed a zombie afterlife that occasionally is opportunistically used to impugn my reputation.”
He implored the court to grant him the interdict against SIU, as he believes he has good prospects to win part B where he seeks to stop Ramaphosa on his tracks on the proclamation.
According to him, a refusal by the court to grant him the interdict will make “my victory on part B hollow”, as this will be after the fact, as the SIU would have most likely concluded its investigation.
“The president made an error of law by failing to understand the ambit of his powers and his discretion under the SIU Act.
“If the interim interdict is not granted, then there is a real prospect that I will be subjected to an unlawful process and this will cause me prejudice.
“There are good prospects that I will succeed in part B. If the SIU is allowed to complete the investigation, my ultimate victory will be hollow and not vindicate my right to fair, reasonable, rational, and lawful administrative action.”
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