THE DA has called on the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane to immediately tender his resignation in light of the damning Public Protector’s report that has found that he renovated his private residence with portions of the R3.3-million that the province had set aside to commemorate the life of late struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
This was after the public protector on Friday made damning findings against him for irregularly benefiting from a tender that was meant for the memorial service of late Madikizela-Mandela.
On Sunday, Mabuyane said he had instructed his lawyers to urgently take Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report on legal review.
The DA called for the premier and ANC provincial treasurer Babalo Madikizela – who’s also implicated in the public protector’s report – to both step down.
“It is galling that the Premier and his executive can walk around and preach about tackling corruption, good governance and consequence management, when he himself has had his hand in the cookie jar the entire time,” said DA’s Eastern Cape provincial chairperson, Andrew Whitfield.
“It is not about whether the premier gave back the money he received, after the allegations initially surfaced, but whether he committed wrongdoing in taking the money in the first place. How can we trust this Premier to fight the cancer of corruption in our province, when the Public Protector herself has found he is corrupt?”
In her findings, the public protector found that Mabuyane personally benefited R450, 000 that was used to renovate his house while he was the Eastern Cape’s MEC for Economic Development.
The provincial Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts, and Culture and the Mbizana Local Municipality (MLM) decided to work together in 2018 to host a memorial service for the late Madikizela-Mandela, and according to the terms of the agreement they signed, the department was responsible for providing R1.1 million which would ostensibly be used for transport.
Mkhwebane’s report details how businessman Lonwabo Bam assisted Mabuyane and Madikizela in stuffing their own pockets instead, and provided sworn affidavits detailing how this happened.
Among her recommendations, the public protector said the Hawks should investigate the matter further with a view of prosecuting the case.
She also asked the speaker of the MLM Council to take urgent steps within 60 days to ensure disciplinary action is taken against officials involved in the matter.
- Inside Politics
