Onus on Mabuyane to clear his name

Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane is in a tight spot. Months after he succeeded in getting a report of the public protector set aside — wherein she concluded he had irregularly and improperly benefited from R450,000 of public funds — he faces fresh allegations of fraud. News outlet News 24 reported on Monday that Mabuyane, who has an economics degree from Fort Hare University, allegedly tried to fake his way into a doctoral degree in public administration.

The outlet cited a forensic report commissioned by Fort Hare, which concluded that Mabuyane’s master’s research proposal was “a sham” in that he was allegedly assisted by tainted former UFH Professor Edwin Ijeoma, a team of research assistants and ghost writers.

He has flatly denied the allegations and has vowed to take legal action in a bid to clear his name, but his political opponents are gunning for his head, calling for him to step down.

This is not the first time that Mabuyane has been drawn into allegations of irregularities, with UFH in 2021 deregistering him from the master’s class, based on allegations that he was not registered properly.

A former MEC of health in his provincial cabinet, Sindiswa Gomba, was also embroiled in the same scandal.

With a host of allegations of fraud and corruption stacked up against Ijeoma — including claims he faked his qualifications — Mabuyane will have a difficult time convincing the public that he was not involved in anything untoward when it comes to his qualifications.

That he plans to challenge this report in court is welcomed — only then will we be able to separate fact from fiction.

The allegations against him are significant, with the potential to bring major harm to his political standing and to the public’s confidence in him.

If he fails to clear his name before next year’s general election, Mabuyane will have a tough time getting the electorate to buy into his anti-corruption rhetoric.