Education to probe law deals

Procurement processes were bypassed amid litigation crisis

An exchange in the legislature between education MEC Mandla Makapula and two EFF MPLs has revealed that two private law firms working for the department have informal links with an official there.

In his answers to questions posed by Yazini Tetyana and Litha Zibula, Makapula said the department deviated from normal legal procurement processes because the state attorney’s office was failing to defend the department in 25 cases in the Mthatha High Court.

A Dispatch investigation has revealed that two private law firms providing legal services to the department are linked to the department’s legal services director, Eddie Scheun.

After Makupula explained in his responses how one of the firms was contracted, the department has now made an about-turn and will be investigating the allegations.

Education SG Themba Kojana is to launch the probe.

Department spokesman Mali Mtima did not respond to specific questions but said Kojana had noted the allegations as they were “aired” in the legislature. “[Kojana] will take steps to fully investigate the allegations before we can be in a position to respond to all your questions,” Mtima said.

The EFF voiced concern over Scheun’s close relations with legal firms that were doing work for the department.

Contacted for comment, Scheun referred the Dispatch to the department’s response.

Scheun was seconded from the national education department to the province in 2014. In 2015 he successfully applied for the post of legal services director. From January 2016 to March 2018 his brother Abraham Scheun’s firm Investigations Services Unlimited (ISU) received payments from the department totalling R1.4m.

From June 2016 to March 2017, the firm received a further R403,226. This is according to Makapula’s responses.

Abraham Scheun refused to give his side of the story. “Sir you should speak with the department of education and get the necessary information from them,” he said. “I’m not sure how it involves me. I will not discuss this over the phone, I will hear from the department, I am a service provider.”

The department deviated from procurement processes to appoint Eddie Scheun’s former employers, Changfoot Van Breda, to deal with a backlog of cases in the Mthatha office.

Numerous attempts to get comment from the firm’s director, Henry van Breda, were unsuccessful. E-mails and calls went unanswered and the firm’s Neil Ristow said: “Mr van Breda is unfortunately off sick at the moment. “We don’t know when he’ll be back.”

In his reply, Makapula wrote: “Because of the nature of the challenges and constraints and the urgency to address these [25 cases in Mthatha], the accounting officer [of the department] took a decision to, as an emergency step, remove matters from the office of the state attorney in Mthatha and instruct private attorneys.”

This was how Changfoot Van Breda was appointed, he said.

Makapula wrote: “The firm was appointed following an emergency procurement process after market research and the evaluation of their proposal to conduct litigation in relation to 25 matters in the Mthatha High Court to which the state attorney had been unable to give attention.”

He said the step to bypass the state attorney’s office was necessary to protect the interests of the department.

According to Makapula, Eddie Scheun worked for Changfoot Van Breda until 1996.

The SG will take steps to fully investigate the allegations before we can be in a position to respond