Dukwana says he is ready to face Magashule in court, Zondo hears

Former Free State economic development MEC Mxolisi Dukwana on Tuesday told the chair of the commission of inquiry into state capture, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, that he is prepared to face former Free State premier and incumbent ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule “in any court”.

Dukwana told the commission that following his appearance before the inquiry on April 5, Magashule during a television interview threatened to pursue legal action against him.

The former MEC said the threat prompted him to instruct his attorneys to notify Magashule that they would act on his behalf should the secretary-general follow through with the threat.

“I was making it easier for [Magashule],” Dukwana told Zondo.

Correspondence between Dukwana’s attorneys – a letter addressed to Magashule dated April 9 – and the secretary-general’s office at ANC headquarters – an acknowledgement of receipt dated April 10 of the aforementioned letter  –  was tabled before the chair.

Dukwana, however, told Zondo his legal team has not informed him if Magashule’s threat has come to pass, with no demand for him to retract his submission at the commission.

“I stand ready to face [Magashule] in any court,” Dukwana told Zondo.

Dukwana says his attorneys have not yet received any correspondence such as a letter of demand for him to retract his submissions at the commission nor legal documents from Magashule, he says he stands ready to face Magashule at any court in the republic.#StateCaptureInquiry

— State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) August 27, 2019

Dukwana said “as a disciplined member of the ANC” he had deemed it necessary to testify at the commission because of an ANC resolution taken at the party’s 2017 Nasrec conference which encouraged members to fight corruption and approach the inquiry if they have any knowledge of corrupt activities.

Dukwana says as a disciplined member of the ANC, he has responded to a call made the ANC to be of assistance to the Commission in its constitutional obligation to unearth and reports acts of state capture and corruption.#StateCaptureInquiry

— State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) August 27, 2019

Dukwana said he was willing to participate with the commission despite the risks involved.

The former MEC added that giving evidence at the commission was to ensure corruption is not allowed to become endemic and normalised, because once that happens “it becomes difficult for us as a nation to bring up responsible adults and you need people with ethics to be leaders in society”.

Dukwana commented that one of the challenges with dealing with corruption is that people don’t care about the consequences of corruption, as long as they are getting something.

He urged members of society, and ANC members in particular, to actively fight corruption.

Dukwana also addressed reports that he had been one of the beneficiaries of the R1 billion CR17 campaign.

The Sunday Independent recently reported that it had seen the campaign records of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s successful 2017 campaign for the presidency of the party, which reveal Dukwana as one of the beneficiaries of the campaign funds. The campaign was dubbed CR17.

However, he expressed concern that society at large had not engaged with the Auditor General‘s report on the state of municipalities across the country with the same zeal as they had with the CR17 campaign funds.

Dukwana told Zondo that he had also been part of a campaign for the ANC presidency during the party’s Polokwane conference which saw former president Jacob Zuma lead the party, suggesting that funds had also been used for campaigns at the time.

In regard to the CR17 campaign, Dukwana said those involved in it had asked to use bank accounts to ensure the money could be traced and that “there were no plastic bags”.

Dukwana said he had been proud of being part of Ramaphosa’s campaign.

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