Mabuyane’s court challenge ‘exposes ANC’s shortcomings’

As Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane yesterday celebrated victory over successfully interdicting the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into how he obtained his university qualifications, experts have warned that his court challenge bordered on poor leadership, lack of integrity and low ethical standards within the ANC.

In papers before the Bisho High Court, Mabuyane has described the investigation as “abuse” meant to embarrass him – maintaining there was “a witch hunt” against him by the University of Fort Hare – the institution which deregistered him when he enrolled for a master’s programme.

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He has also argued that the SIU was heavily-reliant on a forensic investigation conducted by Fort Hare. Expressing being vindicated by the court ruling, Mabuyane reacted: “I felt disappointed for the SIU to be given a flawed forensic report to use it in the manner they’ve been using.”

Mabuyane vs SIU and ANC

With Part A dealing with the interdict into Mabuyane’s qualifications, Part B will be covering the broader investigation into ongoing corruption at the university – a probe the premier also seeks to declare unconstitutional.

Handing down her ruling, with respondents compelled to bear costs, Judge Thandi Norman said: “I grant the following order, the Special Investigation Unit is interdicted from enforcing the proclamation 84 of 2022, published in government gazette, number 47199 on 5 August 2022.

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“This is in so far as the SIU is taking steps that are directed at the application, pending part B.

“Each party is to bear its own costs.”

‘ANC leadership challenge’

While experts concurred with Norman’s judgment on weaknesses in the SIU’s drafting of the application, they conceded that the hauling of Mabuyane before court over his qualifications and the interdict, represented “a wider ANC leadership challenge”.

Said senior research associate with the Institute for Global Dialogue, Sanusha Naidu: “The Mabuyane matter raises a lot of issues – also talking to some of the internal critical challenges of the ANC – in particular ethical leadership and lack of a professionalised party.

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“This is when it comes to the kind of governance that it wants to impart in its role as a government in power.

“When looking beyond this case, this matter opens a very disturbing trend on the impact of cadre deployment and whether the party has the right people with ethical leadership and the moral compass to govern.

“These kinds of things raise issues on whether the ANC is credible to have individuals in the party to serve in senior government positions like premiers or senior bureaucrats.

“It comes back to legislation and professionalising your public service, which does not only hold loyalty to the party but to the state that it serves.

“The ANC should be instilling among its members a sense of ethics, credibility and legitimacy on what leadership means – to take the party forward, a government in power that could end up in a coalition.

“Challenges about qualifications are issues that the party needs to think seriously about when compiling election candidates’ lists for provincial and national elections – especially now that polls are not far off.

“You can’t have a distrust by the electorate of the ANC and its leaders because of such incidents as seen at Fort Hare University.”

University of Pretoria politics lecturer Roland Henwood, said – despite Mabuyane’s court victory: “This leaves many questions, which may reflect on him in the long-run.”

Said independent political analyst Sandile Swana: “The drafting of this SIU proclamation was incorrect, showing being over-enthusiastic and losing the bigger plot.

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“But I think the SIU will still reconstitute its terms of investigation and narrowly focus on whether Mabuyane was fraudulently and unlawfully registered for a master’s and a PhD without RPL (recognition of prior learning) and whether he had any necessary honours degree.

“All these need to be properly investigated. But the fact that he is being investigated, shows the kind of performance of leaders in the Eastern Cape – people not deserving of public office.

“This shows what happens when someone takes short cuts – creating problems for himself and the public.”

-brians@citizen.co.za