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Public Protector's alleged blunders exposed

Publish date: 15 July 2019
Issue Number: 832
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: South Africa

A litany of alleged blunders, missteps and ‘irrational’ conclusions in Public Protector Busiswe Mkhwebane’s report targeting Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan are revealed on media platforms in reports over the weekend, notes Legalbrief. Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos reveals how Mkhwebane failed to carry out the most basic test of Gordhan’s parliamentary denial on his meeting at which a member of the Gupta family was present and the Sunday Times exposes her reliance on a person it describes as ‘an unemployed, dope-smoking Rastafarian’ as a key source for her finding against Gordhan and her call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to act against the Minister, who is heading Ramaphosa's bid to clean up state-owned entities at the heart of the state capture project. Foremost among Mkhwebane's blunders is her labelling of Rastafarian Keletso Bizoski ‘JahRa’ Manyike as a former SARS ‘specialist agent’ who received para-military training in order to spy on taxpayers and politicians and bug their phones. Manyike reportedly told the newspaper that Mkhwebane must have been ‘confused’ when she said he was a member of the SARS ‘rogue unit’. ‘I was never part of that unit,’ Manyike is quoted as saying. ‘I have no idea why the Public Protector said that. I think she got confused.’ He added: ‘She is completely wrong. I am only aware of vague rumours about this rogue unit. I have no real knowledge. I was never involved in any of that. She is completely wrong,’ he said. Yet, observes the Sunday Times, Manyike is a key witness in Mkhwebane's report, in which she uses his ‘evidence’ over two pages to conclude that SARS unlawfully created a ‘rogue unit’ implicated in a host of dirty tricks and criminality.

 

Manyike worked for SARS for almost 11 years, but his employment record shows he was a law interpreter in the legal administration & policy division, and later in debt collection. He was also the trade union Nehawu's full-time Gauteng shop steward at SARS. The Sunday Times report notes it also emerged that though Mkhwebane had Manyike's contact details, she failed during her investigation to interview or question him to test his ‘evidence’. The newspaper says Manyike is a vital part of Mkhwebane's report. Although she mentions the names of more than 30 ‘rogue unit’ agents, there is no indication she subpoenaed any of them. The Sunday Times says it sent a six-page e-mail to Mkhwebane, setting out the misrepresentations and manipulation of evidence in her report. She was asked to respond, and to say who else had submitted evidence for the report. Mkhwebane's spokesperson, Oupa Segalwa, said: ‘The Public Protector is functus officio. Anyone who is unhappy with or questions the content of her report can join Minister Gordhan and others' court bid as interested parties or amicus curiae to have (it) reviewed and set aside.’ He said Mkhwebane would ‘defend the matter in court, where reviews of her decisions are dealt with, and not in the newspapers’.

Full Sunday Times report (subscription needed)

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