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FILE | Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane addresses an event.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit claims provincial prosecutors tried to shield Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane from charges by misleading the Hawks.
The unit says it has proof that the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute Mabuyane months ago, but falsely claimed more investigation was needed.
The Hawks have contradicted this version, saying they were never told further probes were required.
The allegations link Mabuyane to money funnelled from transport contracts for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral.
Spokesperson for Afriforum’s Private Prosecution Unit Barry Bateman says, “It’s entirely irrational, and we believe there are absolute political considerations in this matter. Mr Lonwabo Bam is the middleman in this alleged significant criminal activity.”
Bateman says, “ He is incriminating himself. He says that there were fictitious tenders or jobs that were made, he created fictitious or false invoices, the money was paid to him by the municipality, and he then disbursed that money from his bank account to several people, including the politicians. So, we say there is a very strong case in this, and any decision not to proceed on it is entirely irrational, and given who the suspects are.”
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