Civil rights group Afriforum has laid criminal charges against Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula.
The charges relate to a family holiday to Dubai in 2017 which was allegedly paid for by the company, Sedgars Sports, when Mbalula was still the Minister of Sport.
The Public Protector (PP) also investigated and concluded that Mbalula had violated the Constitution as well as other legislation in this regard.
The PP found that Mbalula had visited Dubai without paying for the trip in advance and seemingly had no idea of how much it would cost. She also found that neither Mbalula nor his office had arranged for the trip.
It is alleged that Mbalula never paid for the trip and when debt collectors came knocking, he contacted his friend Yusuf Dockrat, director of Sedgars Sport, for a loan agreement of R684 000 to help pay for the trip. Sedgars Sport provided the uniforms worn by Team SA at the Olympic Games. According to the PP, it had been "inappropriate" for Mbalula to enter into a loan agreement with Dockrat, because he was a director of an entity conducting business with Sascoc.
The head of Afriforum's anti-corruption Monique Taute says the NPA's failure to prosecute Mbalula on the PP's recommendation compelled AfriForum to lay these charges.
Picture: Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer, Monique Taute, and Natasha Venter.
