Cape Town — Former public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, has said that the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) not to prosecute ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, was a shock.
Mkhwebane’s comments come after Mbalula was investigated by Afriforum for a controversial trip he took to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December 2016 and January 2017, during his time as Minister of Sports. The trip was allegedly funded by Sedgars Sports, owned by the Dockrat family.
Mbalula said he was unfazed by the investigation and said there remains no scandal.
According to The Citizen, AfriForum’s private prosecution unit spokesperson, Barry Bateman, said after a cursory inspection of the evidence, “it was abundantly clear the decision by the NPA not to prosecute Mbalula was irrational.”
In response, Mkhwebane was also surprised by the decision not to prosecute Mbalula and said the NPA should have probed whether the money which took the Mbalula family to Dubai was not proceeds of crime, or if money laundering was committed, IOL reported.
“It was shocking to discover that the National Prosecuting Authority decided not to prosecute because there was evidence which we relied on as the Public Protector that Mr Mbalula received that free donation which he later turned into a loan.” she said.
That was also paid in cash, and we were questioning the R150 000 cash which he paid to a travel agent. He was alleging that he is paying back R680 000 which he got from Sedgars, the company which paid for his family trip,” Mkhwebane added.
Mkhwebane said the decision violated the financial intelligence laws as a South African, which state you are only allowed to carry a certain amount of cash with you.
“We wanted them to look into that part, but then they decided not to prosecute.” she added.
Former public protector Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane weighs in on AfriForum’s private prosecution against Fikile Mbalula over a luxury Dubai holiday. The public protector in 2018 released a report that found that Mbalula violated the Executive Ethics Code as he did not disclose the… pic.twitter.com/SUyD9TD6PA
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
