Johannesburg- The Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s competency came under serious question from the legal teams representing the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Provincial Public Works MEC Babalo Madikizela.
Both Mabuyane and Madikizela approached the Bhisho High Court to hear an urgent court interdict against the implementation of Mkhwebane’s remedial action of her investigation into allegations of corruption, maladministration, or misuse of the public funds by senior and executive government officials from the Mbizana Local Municipality and the Eastern Cape Government.
Mkhwebane had found that an amount of R1.1-Million was misappropriated from the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Municipality [formerly Mbizana Local Municipality] and irregularly paid to the business account of Lonwabo Bam’s company, Mthombeni Projects without rendering any services to the municipality.
Bam confirmed to the Public Protector, during her investigation that Madikizela instructed him to deposit R450 000 for Mabuyane to an account of his architect, Allan Morran of Allan Morran Design Architectural Services for the refurbishment of his house.
Madikizela further instructed Bam to pay R350 000 of the money to a business account of PM Plant Hire CC, a company owned by his wife Zona Zetu Siyazithanda Madikizela, and pay a donation of R280 000 to the ANC in the Eastern Cape.
In her findings, Mkhwebane said both Mabuyane and Madikizela unduly benefited and referred part of her investigation to the Hawks to probe a suspicion of a commission of criminal conduct and corruption.
Mabuyane’s Senior Counsel Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said Mkhwebane made two glaring and crass errors in her findings against Mabuyane.
Ngcukaitobi argued that Mabuyane had informed Mkhwebane from the time she started her investigation in December 2019 that he had a loan agreement with Madikizela and it had since been paid back in July 2019.
“She has not referred neither to the letter nor the proof of payment, they’re just not referred to.
That’s where the double agenda comes from because a dispassionate, honest investigation reflects the version of the defendant [Mabuyane].
“You cannot run an investigation on a one-track mentality that determines the outcome that you have in mind and anything that stands in between will just be ignored.
So, it’s a crass error of facts, crass error of law, basically shows that she doesn’t know how to conduct an investigation,” he said.
Ngcukaitobi said true criminals will get away with having stolen public funds because of the gross incompetence of Mkhwebane.
Madikizela’s Senior Counsel Anton Katz was also scathing in her criticism of the Public Protector report.
Katz said Madikizela was not a government official but an ANC treasurer and a private citizen during the period under Public Protector investigation.
He said Mkhwebane applied incorrect legal statutes and provisions that were not applicable to Madikizela because he was not in government.
Katz said there’s something fishy and rotten in the report that Mkhwebane issued and her recommendations are wholly inappropriate.
“One has to think carefully about why did she get it so wrong. Why did she target a person or a politician under the circumstances where she knows that the law doesn’t require her to do so,” said Katz.
After hearing the arguments that were not opposed by the office of the Public Protector, the Hawks and the Police Minister Acting Judge Rosaan Kruger granted the interim interdict sought until the matter goes for Judicial review.
The application for the Judicial review on this matter to be heard on an urgent basis has also been granted.
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