Mabuyane Says SIU’s Fort Hare Probe Meant to “Embarrass” Him
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has approached the Eastern Cape High Court in a controversial bid to exclude himself from the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) probe into the governance crisis at Fort Hare University, saying it is part of a plot to politically embarrass him.
The Eastern Cape High Court is expected to rule next week on whether Mabuyane’s academic record at Fort Hare University should be included in a Special Investigating Unit investigation into allegations of maladministration at the institution.
The investigation is the result of a 2020 proclamation signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa allowing the SIU to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration at Fort Hare, including persistent allegations of academic fraud.
Mabuyane is implicated in the probe because of allegations that he was registered for a master’s degree in Public Administration at Fort Hare University without having completed an Honours degree.
Further allegations include that his research proposal was done by postgraduate students with very little from Mabuyane. He was later deregistered from the programme.
Mabuyane had initially brought an interdict to stop the entire probe into maladministration at Fort Hare, but then changed tack by narrowing the application to aspects of the investigation only referring to himself.
The SIU wants Mabuyane to produce his identity document, a degree certificate, documents to show recognition of prior learning and an original copy of his research proposal.
However, in his court papers, Mabuyane said he objected to being the subject of the investigation, and claimed that there seemed to be a malicious plan by the SIU to cause him grave political embarrassment.
Mabuyane pointed out that the scope of the SIU was the honours programme and that he had never claimed to have an honours degree. He added that he was deregistered from the master’s programme.
He said there were no allegations that he had been awarded an honours degree. The allegation was that he was registered in the master’s programme, which was not under investigation.
Mabuyane claimed the SIU and the Vice-Chancellor of Fort Hare have tended to drive the investigation
against him through the media, where stories are planted and reported in sensationalist and false terms.
He pointed out that he had sought to engage with the SIU about its investigation, and had offered his
full cooperation, but the SIU had treated him as a recalcitrant witness evading investigation.
Mabuyane charged the SIU with having “particular antipathy” towards him. It had sought to “invoke
draconian tactics and unfairly oppressive measures” against him with no justification. The SIU’s conduct
was an abuse of power, had an ulterior purpose and was an attempt to use the investigation to cause him “political embarrassment,” he said.
The Eastern Cape High Court, sitting in Bhisho, will rule on the matter on 20 June 2023.
Cradock Four Families To Sue State
The families of the Cradock Four are going to sue the state for failure to prosecute those alleged to be responsible for the murder of Cradock anti-apartheid activists in 1985.
Lukhanyo Calata, the son of Fort Calata, one of the murdered activists, this week said the state had failed to prosecute in line with the directives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC)
The move comes after the death of Hermanus Barend du Plessis, who was the last living suspect in the murder case.
Fort Calata was assassinated alongside Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto on 27 June 1985.
Calata said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) informed the families, through their lawyers, about the death of Du Plessis last Friday.
He said the families felt that the NPA allowed the case to die by stalling prosecutions despite the TRC denying six apartheid police officers amnesty.
However, he said this would not deter them from pursuing justice for their loved ones. Calata charged that the National Prosecuting Authority(NPA), under the ANC government, had never intended to prosecute the people linked to the murders of the Cradock Four.
Although no one was now left to prosecute, Calata however maintained they still have avenues to hold the state accountable. He said they are now left with no other option but to sue the state for failing to prosecute the murderers of the Cradock Four. If that was how justice must be had, then that was the avenue to explore, he said.
The Foundation for Human Rights said Du Plessis’ death was “devastating” for the families of the Cradock Four. It said the state had failed their families, who had waited in vain for justice. The foundation said the families of the Cradock Four had been struggling for truth and justice for decades. Several high-profile pleas for justice were made by Lukhanyo Calata, the son of the late Fort Calata, but these pleas fell on deaf ears.
The foundation said several witnesses and potential suspects connected to the case had died over the past two years, including Eric Winter, the former Security Branch head in Cradock; former president FW De Klerk; former Security Branch commander and police commissioner Johan van der Merwe; and former minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok.
The families whose cases had collapsed because of delays caused by political interference deserved nothing less than a full, open, transparent and independent commission of inquiry, the foundation said.
The foundation also said several pleas had been made for such a commission of inquiry, but they had all been ignored, presumably to protect key decision-makers from the scrutiny of a public inquiry.
In 2021 the families of the Cradock Four turned to the courts to force law enforcement agencies to prosecute those responsible for the abduction, torture and murder of about 300 anti-apartheid activists.
Last year, NPA head Shamila Batohi said the state wanted justice for the families and would prosecute if it had a strong case against the suspects.
However she qualified her statement by saying there must me sufficient evidence to prosecute, in order to have reasonable prospects of a successful conviction in a court of law. To go to court without good evidence could result in the NPA being sued for malicious prosecution, Batohi said at the time.
Correctional Officer Gets Life in Jail For Femicide
A former Correctional Services Official, Simphiwe Mxosa (48), was this week sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his ex-wife. Mxosa, who hacked his victim to death with a bush knife, was sentenced by the High Court of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division, sitting in East London. The murder took place front of his nine-year-old daughter, who had accompanied her mother to fetch clothing from Mxosa’s house in the Correctional Services precinct of West Bank Prison in East London on 01 March 2022.
In addition to declaring him unfit to possess a firearm, the court made an order for Mxosa’s children with the deceased and their maternal grandmother to be given psycho-social counselling and any other support by the Department of Social Development.
In 2019 the couple had legally divorced but maintained their relations as a customary wedded couple, and they visited each other’s homes.
Before the day of the murder, the deceased had broken up with Mxosa again because he had physically abused her.
He arrived and asked the deceased whether she was leaving him for good. When she did not answer, Mxosa pretended as if he was assisting her to fetch shoes under a bed but took out a bush knife and fatally attacked her.
The daughter ran away and alerted the community to the attack and Mxosa was later arrested the same day while drinking alcohol with his friends at a nearby shopping mall.
During the trial, he pleaded not guilty and claimed that his daughter was imagining things and had been coached by her maternal grandmother to implicate him.
State Advocate Andile Nohiya, pleaded for a sentence of life in prison for Mxosa, arguing that femicide and gender-based violence were rife in society and deserved harsh sentences. Nohiya said the sentence would be especially fitting in the case given that Mxosa had been a Correctional Officer for 14 years, tasked with ensuring that offenders of similar crimes were rehabilitated.
Two Suspects Appear In Court For Rape Of 5 Year Old Girl
Two men, aged 38 and 21, appeared at the Peddie magistrates Court this week following a speedy response by community members and police which led to their arrest for the rape of a five year old girl. The two men are accused of allegedly taking turns raping the child in the bushes in Mgababa location last week. Reports say the child was with family at a traditional ceremony when the mother started looking for her.
But she was nowhere to be found. Later, the child returned and her mother noticed that she was not looking well. On being questioned it was established that she had been taken into the bushes by the suspects and raped. The matter was immediately reported to police. Later, the same day, the 21 year old suspect was arrested by the community at his house in Prudhoe Village.
Shortly after his arrest, police arrested the second suspect, also at his house in the same village. The Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit in Peddie are investigating cases of rape, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and abduction.
Bethelsdorp’s Desiree Baartman Still Missing After Six Days
South African Police Service(SAPS) detectives in Bethelsdorp are still looking for 57 year old Desiree Baartman who went missing last Friday (9-6-23).
According to police spokesperson Sandra Janse Van Rensburg, at approximately 10:00, Baartman left her house in Nagel Street, Extention 29, Bethelsdorp and never returned home. Enquiries were made with family and with frequently visited friends but none were able to trace her. On Wednesday this week she was reported missing at SAPS Bethelsdorp.
Police are appealing to anyone who can assist in tracing Baartman to urgently contact SAPS Bethelsdorp crime office on 071 475 1953 or Crime Stop 08600 10111 or their nearest police station.
All information is strictly confidential and callers have the right to remain anonymous.
ARTICLE BY MANDLA ZIBI