PHOTO: THULISILE MAPONGWANA
A 32-year-old man appeared in the East London Magistrates Court on Thursday, on perjury charges against Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Phadima Fukulu is said to have falsely opened cases of corruption in Johannesburg and East London, against both Mabuyane and Zondo and then fled from the Hawks after allegedly giving conflicting evidence.
He alleged that in July 2017, Mabuyane had sent him to deliver a bribe of R5 million to Rustenburg, to pardon himself [Mabuyane] from the State Capture Inquiry that the Chief Justice chaired.
Fukula is then alleged to have been on the run, before handing himself over to East London police in August 2023.
During proceedings on Thursday, the court finally heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had decided to prosecute the matter.
After many delays in the case, Fukula’s lawyer, Lindela Ngxekana, said they welcome the decision to prosecute.
“The decision was taken that Fukula will be prosecuted in the regional court, we welcome the decision, and we have always been ready to proceed in the matter.”
He faces charges of perjury, defeating the ends of justice and crimen injuria. Responding to the charges, Ngxekana said, “In law, we are innocent until proven guilty, we will see what the state brings forth and we will deal with that.”
Meanwhile, Fukula, who is a former ANC activist, was supported by members of the MK Party in court on Thursday.
Comrade Ntlantla Madikizela said he came from KwaZulu-Natal to support Fukula, who is “in good standing with uMkhonto WeSizwe.”
Madikizela said they would be going to the Fleet Street police station in East London, to find out how far the case against Mabuyane and Zondo had been investigated.
“We feel the state is using state resources to intimidate and persecute comrade Fukula. He opened a case against Zondo and Mabuyane, however, his case has not received attention, apparently, the docket went missing.”
He said their interest as MK was to see justice being served for all parties involved.
“Fukula is here because of a case that was opened by Mabuyane, but surprisingly his case [against Mabuyane] has not been attended to. We will carry on to support him as MK, and we will multiply [in numbers] when he comes back to court on the 7th of August.”
Madikizela said the party wanted to ensure that the law applies to everyone, including politicians, and that the lack of progress in the case against Zondo and Mabuyane shows that we are not equal in the eyes of the law.
“But we are here to make sure that the law applies to all of us and that the case against Mabuyane is also heard fairly,” he concluded.
In July 2021, when Fukula was still missing, the Hawks were also looking for what they called a mysterious man who posted a video on social media related to the Fukula matter.
At the time, the Hawks said the contents of the video clip had a serious bearing on the evidence needed in the case.
