Probe involving Eastern Cape premier proceeds despite bid to have it declared unlawful

INVESTIGATIONS into allegations of fraud and corruption against Eastern Cape Premier and ANC provincial chairperson Oscar Mabuyane are being conducted through a “prosecution-guided investigation methodology,” says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Mabuyane has filed papers in the Bhisho High Court seeking to stop the Hawks from further investigating him, something the head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya, said he had never heard of.

“I am not aware of a situation where the investigating unit was given an order by a court to stop (an investigation),” Lebeya told the SABC.

Mabuyane wants the Hawks' investigation to be declared “unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid”. The Hawks have indicated they will oppose Mabuyane's application.

Lebeya said the investigation into Mabuyane's allegations of fraud and corruption was completed in March. He said the matter was initially registered in the Eastern Cape as an inquiry, but at a later stage it was recorded as a docket at Park Road police station in the Free State.

But the NPA's Eastern Cape spokesperson, Anelisa Ngcakani, said yesterday: “We confirm that the matter is still under investigation by the Hawks through a prosecution-guided investigation methodology. No further comment will be released at this stage as the matter is still under investigation.”

Mabuyane's woes started when Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane found that he had “improperly” benefited to the tune of R450 000 out of R1.1 million allocated by the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipality (formerly Mbizana Local Municipality) for the memorial service of the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018.

The R450 000 went to renovate Mabuyane's private residence in East London, according to the report.

But Mabuyane has stuck to his guns, saying he borrowed this money from Babalo Madikizela, the MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure, who is also an ANC provincial treasurer.

Madikizela is also implicated in the public protector's report. It found that he “improperly” received R350 000 of the R1.1m.

Madikizela has followed in Mabuyane's footsteps and filed papers in the Bhisho High Court to challenge the report.

Part of their argument is questioning the timing of the report, it having been released before the local government elections, and ultimately before the ANC provincial conference set for December, saying it would cost them their political careers.

In a statement last week, the public protector's spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, said: “The office does not stop exercising its powers or performing its functions merely because an election is approaching. That would be at odds with Section 181(2) of the Constitution, which provides that the office is independent, and subject only to the Constitution and the law, and that it must be impartial and must exercise its powers and perform its functions without fear, favour or prejudice.”