This, as one of the intended beneficiaries of the Gupta-linked Estina project, Ephraim Dhlamini, told the commission led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that he does not trust Mkhwebane because she excluded beneficiaries from her initial investigation and that she only spoke to the beneficiaries earlier this year, after her report had already been issued.

He revealed that before Mkhwebane released her first report on the farm, 15 of the beneficiaries visited her office with the DA in an attempt to get their voices heard. Dhlamini said their calls, however, seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. OFM News’ Katleho Morapela reports that Dhlamini’s testimony on the efforts taken to engage Mkhwebane’s office on the matters comes at a time when all eyes are on her and whether she will be struck off the advocates roll after the Constitutional Court judgment earlier this week.

From a Constitutional Court ruling that she fell short of the standards required of her office in the Bankorp/Absa bailout matter to releasing a report in which she found President Cyril Ramaphosa broke the ethics code by lying about donations made to his CR17 presidential campaign, Mkhwebane continues to make headlines.

The ConCourt on Monday found Mkhwebane to be personally liable for the South African Reserve Bank matter which she was tasked with investigating in 2017. The court dismissed her appeal against a High Court judgment which ordered that she personally pays 15% of the cost from her own pocket.

She was also in the spotlight over the rogue unit, where she allegedly said Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan is trying to divert the public’s attention from a report in which she found that he approved the setting up of the rogue unit at SARS which violated the Constitution. Gordhan has in return asked the court to suspend Mkhwebane's binding remedial orders and interdict her office from enforcing them until a judicial review of her report is concluded.

The commission has heard that for Dhlamini, the project was seen as a sign of hope for a poverty-stricken community. He says it is concerning that Mkhwebane was not of much help.

He further told the commission about death threats he had from ‘people’ who saw him as a threat and how the Hawks and other law enforcement agencies were also not of much help in this regard.

OFM News