Court finds Mabuza’s accuser misled hearing
An interim protection order against Deputy President David Mabuza has been withdrawn‚ with a court labelling his accuser a fabricator.
The Carolina regional court on Monday dismissed an application by businessman Fred Daniels to have an interim protection order‚ which he obtained in February‚ made permanent. In an earlier application in June‚ Daniels applied for magistrate Sarel Grabe to recuse himself over his perceived bias in the matter after he was seen talking to Mabuza’s lawyer‚ advocate Mike Hellens‚ in a corridor outside the courtroom and in his chambers.
Grabe‚ who refused to recuse himself, said the two had spoken during a toilet break and that there was nothing sinister behind it. The second meeting‚ said Grabe‚ occurred while they waited a few minutes for Daniels’s lawyer to discuss a court postponement date.
Daniels has been involved in a decades-long dispute with the former Mpumalanga premier‚ who he claims threatened his life over a multi-billion rand land claims scam‚ on which he blew the whistle in 2004.
Daniel claims the scam‚ which allegedly had Mabuza’s blessing when he was Mpumalanga’s MEC for land & agriculture‚ involved landowners being forced to sell at below market value‚ before the land was sold back to community trusts at inflated prices.
Grabe‚ in his judgment‚ said Daniels “stated there were unlawful raids on his property by the MPTA [Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Authority]”.
Grabe said information had been withheld from the original magistrate who had granted the protection order.
“That information was how the MTPA had raided his [Daniels’] property because of game he was keeping on his property without the necessary permits,” Grabe said.
He also said Daniels’ fears for his and his family’s lives were unfounded.