Mr Themba Masofa Sgudla was allegedly given R10 million by premier Mabuza to assemble a team of managers, supervisors and street sweepers.

According to Mr Jack Masombuka, one of the thirteen ANCYL members “hired” to manage the project, they were told that they would be paid “R7000 per month, while supervisors were offered R2000 per month, and the sweepers R65 per day”.

The men claim they sprang to action and received their first, and only salary, in November last year.

They say they worked December, January and February, but were never paid, and after confronting Mr Sgudla, they were given marching orders.

First the men petitioned the premier’s office for help, where two of his advisers – “Mr Ncube and Mr Nkambule” – promised to get them their money.

Their hopes were however crushed when the advisers returned with an answer: “We can’t help, this man is closely connected to the premier”.

The very same answer allegedly came from the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House: “You touched a big fat snake, connected to the premier, we can’t help”.

On 3 June the group of disgruntled ANCYL and ANCWL members marched onto the Union Buildings, where they reported “the corruption”.

The memorandum delivered to the Union Buildings was met with utter silence, prompting the men “to meet with eMalahleni speaker, Mr Augustine Mkwanazi, who also couldn’t help”.

On Monday, the group of men reported death threats to the eMalahleni police. No criminal case was however opened by police.

Mr Sgudla admitted to paying a number of people R7000 at the start of December, but denies they were ever employed.

“I hired about 700 youths out of my own pocket to stimulate job creation and to place food on their tables, all of them signed bona fide contracts, why can’t these men produce theirs?” Mr Sgudla asks.

He says that the complainants have political affiliations, not him.

“I have text messages where they accuse me of supporting the EFF, why then would an ANC premier hand over R10 million to me!” he asks.

“These guys have gone everywhere, Luthuli House, the premier’s office and even the Union Buildings, and the doors were slammed in their faces. The DG in the premier’s office did phone me, and after explaining, sent them packing”.

When he refused further payments, Mr Sgudla claims they barricaded his offices, and held his employees hostage.

Mr Sgudla in fact, blames the group of complainants of instigating public unrest in Clarinet, but says that they failed to mobilize the public against him, and also dismally failed to prevent his legitimately appointed workers from coming to work.

“The agreements was R65 per day for sweepers and R100 per day for supervisors,” Mr Sgudla admits, adding “I gave them R7000 once off, because they came to me teary eyed, claiming their employers didn’t pay them, and they were hungry”.

“I don’t have any political affiliation and I’m willing to assist DA, EFF and even IFP affiliated youths affected by unemployment, I’m not the snake here, these politically motivated men are,” he told the Middelburg Observer.

“I have the black and white proof, I dare them to prove me wrong,” Mr Sgudla concluded.

Spokesman in the premier’s office, Mr Zibonele Mncwango, told the Observer that more mudslinging matches should be expected in the runup to the 2016 local government elections, which he said he believed the case to be here.

Premier David Mabuza’s full response to the allegations:

“As the Office of the Premier, we have observed a disturbing trend that, each time when there are elections forthcoming, more and more people usually come up with baseless and unfounded allegations in an effort to tarnish the image of the premier’s office, and the leadership of the ruling party.

This is no exception, as the “men” referred to in your media query, never backed up these allegations while interacting with the Office of the Premier. We will be interested to know as to whether in the making such allegations, these “men” were able to provide members of the media with concrete evidence.

If they were unable to back up their claims with evidence this will mean that anyone with their own subversive agenda can walk into a media publishing house, and make unsubstantiated allegations, and in the process tarnish other people’s reputations.

We therefore wish to state categorically clear that, whatever alleged relationship the “men” had with Mr Sgudla, has got nothing to do with the premier.

The premier’s office also wish to reiterate that, we expect similar allegations that are meant to tarnish the image of the premier, in an effort to make the citizens lose confidence in his leadership, or that of the ruling party”.