A former investigator in the office in the Public Protector testified at Mkhwebane’s impeachment about a private meeting Mkhwebane had with Ace Magashule.
This was after parliament requested the office of the Public Protector to investigate the role of politicians in the Vrede Dairy farm project.
Advocate Nditsheni Raedani testified on Thursday before the Section194 impeachment inquiry looking into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.
The advocate said he became involved in the process in November 2017 when he was informed by his executive manager in the business unit, that he would be part of the team finalising the report.
Raedani said Magashule’s meeting with officials from the office of the public protector was unusually short. “The meeting for such nature can sometimes last for a day where we are asking investigative questions, but that one didn’t last 30 minutes,” explained Raedani.
The advocate said Mkhwebane then ended the official’s engagement with Magashule. “We were then required to excuse ourselves and then PP requested her personal assistant to bring her a fresh cup of coffee because she wanted to have a constructive meeting with the secretary-general.”
Former Free State premier Ace Magshule and MEC for agriculture Mosebenzi Zwane were not only directly implicated in the Vrede Dairy farm project, which paid Estina, a Gupta family company more than R280 million for no reason, but they also ignored National Treasury recommendations on flagged procurement irregularities, according to evidence.
He said when Mkhwebane revisited Madonsela’s original investigation, there was clear evidence that Magashule and Zwane were implicated in the Vrede project. Both of them ignored Treasury’s instruction to take disciplinary action with regards to procurement irregularities.
“They were both clearly involved,” Raedani testified before the committee.
“The National Treasury report was very clear about what the premier and the MEC were supposed to do in terms of preventing any further irregularities,” said Raedani.
Source: Eyewitness News, News24, Daily Maverick, image from Daily Maverick: Gallo images/Volksblad/Mlungis Louw