PP wants Abramjee jailed
Affair ‘poses a threat to SA democracy’
PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has laid criminal charges against consultant Ismail Abramjee and his “accomplices”.
The case was opened at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria yesterday.
Mkhwebane wants Abramjee to be investigated for contempt of court, perjury, corruption and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
She also announced that her office would initiate a formal investigation following a leaked text message that Abramjee allegedly sent to advocate Andrew Breitenbach, the lead senior counsel for the Speaker of the National Assembly, saying that he had it “on good authority” that the Constitutional Court had decided to dismiss Mkhwebane’s rescission application regarding its February judgment that Parliament could proceed with her impeachment.
Abramjee also said the court would make the decision public on Friday last week.
This came ahead of Mkhwebane’s bid in the Western Cape High Court to halt the impeachment process as well as her suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa. She wanted National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to withdraw the letter she wrote to Ramaphosa, informing him that Parliament’s ad hoc committee inquiry would proceed with the impeachment, and for the letter to be declared “unconstitutional and invalid”.
Mkhwebane also argued that Ramaphosa’s decision to start the suspension process was “irrational and invalid”.
Mkhwebane’s application was postponed after Breitenbach revealed the text message.
In her application, Mkhwebane said that Abramjee’s actions were meant to harm her name. She said that Abramjee effectively admitted his involvement during an interview with News24.
“It seems most likely that Mr Abramjee communicated with his co-perpetrator(s) and accomplice(s) by telephonic means, for example – voice calls, SMS or WhatsApp. Access to his telephone records will therefore be essential,” she said. “It is against this background that I came here today to lay criminal charges against Mr Abramjee and one or more as yet unidentified person(s), whom I have reason to believe is/are based in the Concourt.
“The criminal charges arising out of the alleged leak include contempt of court, defeating or obstructing the course of justice, and contraventions of Sections 3 and 8 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004,” said Mkhwebane.
She said Section 3 deals with general corruption relating to any person, while Section 8 deals with “offences in respect of corrupt activities relating to judicial officers”.
Mkhwebane said the leak, if established, poses a threat to South Africa’s democracy, the rule of law, and the much-needed independence of the judiciary, adding that the country should get to the bottom of the matter.
She announced that her office decided to initiate a formal investigation into the matter in terms of subsections 6(4) and 6(5) of the Public Protector Act.
“It is not clear whether the leak came from members of the Constitutional Court, the administration, or the judiciary. Insofar as it may have come from the administration, who are employees of the Department of Justice, then the public protector has clear jurisdiction. Insofar as it may have come from a member of the judiciary, the constitutional and the statutory exemptions contained in Section 182(3) of the Constitution and Section 6(6), respectively, apply.”
Last week Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said the matter was deeply concerning and the subject of an investigation.
In an interview with the SABC, Justice Zondo said that the Concourt had not announced its decision on Mkhwebane’s application for a rescission of its impeachment rules judgment. He said as far as he was aware, no decision had been taken. He said it was completely unacceptable for anyone to state that the Concourt had taken a decision when it had not.
Mkhwebane said this means that there would be three separate and parallel investigations into the matter – the chief justice, the SAPS, and the public protector.
Abramjee could not be reached for comment.