In issuing the proclamation, the president said he had acted in a “bona fide and lawful manner” in accordance with the information provided and that he could never have known Mabuyane would become part of the investigation.
The proclamation simply covered investigations concerning serious maladministration in respect of procurement, awarding of degrees, management of funds and enrolment of students.
He said he was not required to consult Mabuyane before issuing the proclamation, as higher education institutions such as the UFH fell under the national and not provincial government.
Allegations requiring investigation involved significant state funds meant for higher education, he said.
“To the extent that such maladministration at UFH exists, my view is that it must be investigated, uncovered, stopped and remedied.”
This alone warranted the proclamation, which was proper and lawful, he said.
He said Mabuyane’s urgent application should be struck from the roll or refused with costs.
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Ramaphosa hits back over Mabuyane’s urgent court application
President Cyril Ramaphosa has lashed out at Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane for dragging him to court and giving him “literally one night” to respond to an urgent high court application to stop the Special Investigating Unit's (SIU) investigation into allegations Mabuyane may be complicit in academic fraud at the University of Fort Hare (UFH).
Ramaphosa is cited as a respondent to the application because he signed the proclamation authorising the SIU to investigate maladministration and corruption at UFH.
The SIU included in its investigation allegations that Mabuyane was himself complicit in possible unethical conduct in his admission to the university’s master’s programme in public administration.
To make matters worse, the premier amended his application at the last moment, deciding that instead of seeking to interdict the entire investigation, he would ask the court only to interdict the investigation in so far as it applied to him.
Ramaphosa says as a result of the initial application and then the late amendments, he had literally only one night [Thursday night] to prepare an answering affidavit.
“My presidential schedule has been booked well in advance including hosting the president of Portugal on Tuesday, attending a cabinet meeting on Wednesday June 7, and fitting in various other constitutional duties in the remainder of the week.”
He did not feel he had been given time to deal with the matter.
Mabuyane has maintained the proclamation's scope could never have envisaged including him in the investigation.
But Ramaphosa says if Mabuyane believed either the university or the SIU were misconstruing the presidential proclamation, he had other remedies available to him which did not involve the president.
“I ought not to have been dragged to court if that is his real concern.”
He also slammed Mabuyane’s original intent of interdicting the entire investigation, saying it should have been apparent he was acting in his own interest and not as a public representative.
He said it was clear he had no legal standing to interdict the entire investigation.
Ramaphosa said Mabuyane had failed to prove any of the legal requirements for an interim interdict.
He said even a temporary halting of his presidential powers in this particular case would constitute an “impermissible intrusion into my executive functions”.
In issuing the proclamation, the president said he had acted in a “bona fide and lawful manner” in accordance with the information provided and that he could never have known Mabuyane would become part of the investigation.
The proclamation simply covered investigations concerning serious maladministration in respect of procurement, awarding of degrees, management of funds and enrolment of students.
He said he was not required to consult Mabuyane before issuing the proclamation, as higher education institutions such as the UFH fell under the national and not provincial government.
Allegations requiring investigation involved significant state funds meant for higher education, he said.
“To the extent that such maladministration at UFH exists, my view is that it must be investigated, uncovered, stopped and remedied.”
This alone warranted the proclamation, which was proper and lawful, he said.
He said Mabuyane’s urgent application should be struck from the roll or refused with costs.
DispatchLIVE
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