David Mabuza denies links to Mpumalanga henchmen

Deputy President David Mabuza has denied allegations that he knows the henchmen who are victimising whistleblowers in the Emalahleni construction industry.

This after whistleblowers at Newzroom Afrika’s Newzfeed AM with Xoli Mngambi on Wednesday claimed that they feared for their lives after exposing alleged hijackers of construction projects in the province. He further alleged that the hijackers were protected by those in power.

“The deputy president of South Africa is the genesis of all the problems in Mpumalanga, the country and the ANC. Mpumalanga, including Emalahleni is a complete typical example of a mafia state,” alleged Pompie Letwaba, leader of the Mashishing Civic Coalition.

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Letwaba further alleged that there were hit men in the province whose job was to protect political leaders. If anyone spoke ill of the political leaders, it was alleged that they would not survive the night.

But Mabuza says these are “imaginary conspiracies and theories”.

“It is common knowledge that the deputy president has not been the premier of Mpumalanga Province since March 2018, and is further excluded by the constitutional architecture of our country with its distinct and separate spheres of government, from exercising provincial executive authority in Mpumalanga. Therefore, he cannot be justly drawn into the politics of the province.

“For the record, we reiterate that the deputy president is not aware of the existence of some henchmen, who are allegedly harassing whistleblowers to serve whatever interests. We have said many times before that whoever becomes aware of such obviously criminal behaviour must report such to the police,” a statement read.

Mabuza further slammed the channel, claiming he had not been afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations against him.

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This despite Mngambi telling viewers that the office of the deputy president had been afforded the opportunity and said they were aware of the allegations.

“Had we been accorded an opportunity to respond to these allegations, we would have taken the opportunity as we do now, to inform the public that we reject those baseless allegations with all the contempt they deserve. The deputy president is on record including from the parliamentary podium that he is not and does not consider himself above the law.

“He, in fact, encourages anyone with evidence of wrongdoing on his part, to report such allegations to any of the law enforcement agencies that have been made available by our democracy.”

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