Cape Town - Barely 24 hours after Parliament’s inquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office addressed delays in proceedings, the hearings were forced to be adjourned after a witness refused to testify, citing threats and intimidation.
Public Protector SA chief investigator Rodney Mataboge, who appeared very briefly before the committee on Tuesday afternoon and was scheduled to give evidence until Friday, told the committee during an in camera session that he received a threatening text message.
The message was shared by committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi when he briefed the media and the viewing public about what was discussed during the in camera session.
Dyantyi also named the sender of the message as Mokgele Mojaki, and said the committee had asked its secretary to phone Mojaki to request that he put his issues with Mataboge in writing and desist from witness tampering.
The text message read in part: “Mr Rodney Mataboge I have been waiting patiently to listen to your testimony of section 194 in parliament.
Dyantyi named the sender of the message as Mokgele Mojaki, and said the committee asked its secretary to phone Mojaki to request that he put his issues with Mataboge in writing and desist from witness tampering.
The text message read in part: “Mr Rodney Mataboge I have been waiting patiently to listen to your testimony of section 194 in Parliament.
“I am Mokgele Mojaki you were hell-bent on producing an adverse report on me in Ngaka Modiri Molema …
“You will never practice (sic) outside that office because you are not worth (sic) to be an advocate.
“Now you are live the whole country is watching you. Karma is a bitch.”
Mataboge, who was already subpoenaed as a witness to the committee, said he would be seeking legal advice about the subpoena.
He now faces a second summons from the committee, which is determined to hear his testimony on Thursday and Friday.
Dyantyi said the committee would not allow its work to be impeded by the sending of such text messages to witnesses, and asked PPSA to do whatever it needed in order to protect their employee.
When Mataboge appeared on Tuesday, he made it clear at the start of the proceedings that he was there to assist the committee and was not testifying in favour of any person, party or grouping.
He opted not to provide the committee with a statement or affidavit prior to his appearance.
Mataboge, a law graduate, started working in the former homelands as an ombudsman in the late 1980s, and was then incorporated into what became PPSA.
He has served under all the country’s public protectors.