Mkhwebane lays charges against those who leaked report to media

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s office is angry at the leaking of her draft report into the City of Johannesburg and its former mayor, which saw it sent to several parties, including media houses, and has laid criminal charges against those involved.

The leaked document related to the public protector’s ongoing investigation of a 2018 complaint in which allegations of maladministration were leveled against the City of Johannesburg.

Mkhwebane’s spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, told The Citizen on Monday evening that the legal representative of the public protector in Gauteng, Winnie Manyathela, opened a case at Hillbrow Police Station in Johannesburg over the leak of a notice served on several parties in terms of s7(9) of the Public Protector Act.

The charge by the protector’s office coincided with a parallel criminal case opened by the former mayor of Johannesburg and founder of the People’s Dialogue, Herman Mashaba, against the protector after the draft report was leaked to the media.

Mashaba laid the charges at the Sandton Police Station to which he was accompanied by former chief of the Johannesburg Metro Police, David Tembe. Tembe was unceremoniously removed from his position by the ANC when it wrested power in the city from the DA.

Weekend papers carried reports extracted from Mkhwebane’s draft which implicated Mashaba in irregularities that allegedly occurred, including interference with supply chain management policies, and alleged irregular hiring of senior officials during his tenure as mayor.

In her draft report, Mkhwebane found Mashaba to have contravened supply chain management policies, conflicts of interest, and making irregular appointments including that of Tembe.

He allegedly hired Tembe despite the latter not meeting the minimum requirements for the job as advertised.

Segalwe criticized the leaking of the documents’ content to the media.

“The Public Protector discourages the publishing of such documents as it prejudices the affected parties and has the potential to strain relations between her office and such parties. Publicizing such information also has the unfortunate potential of jeopardizing investigations,” Segalwe said.

According to Segalwe, Manyathela was informed by the police that they would initially launch an inquiry into the case—CAS 1/6/2020—before deciding whether or not to launch a criminal investigation.

Earlier on Monday Mashaba said himself and Tembe were committed to accountability and “holding ourselves to the high ethical standards we set during our service to the people of Johannesburg”.

Previously Mashaba claimed to have uncovered massive corruption that happened in the City before the DA took over the reins. But the public protector turned the tables on him.

“The leak was sent to no fewer than six Sunday newspapers. A leak of this nature is deliberate, coordinated and political in nature. Section 11 of the Public Protector Act makes it a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of R40,000 or 12 months imprisonment,” Mashaba said.

Segalwe said the leaked notices do not enjoy any status because they are part of an ongoing investigation and therefore cannot be reflective of what might be the public protector’s final findings, if any.

ericn@citizen.co.za

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