Former ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairperson Mike Mabuyakhulu. (Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Former ANC KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairperson Mike Mabuyakhulu and the 15 other accused in the R28.5 million North Sea Jazz Festival corruption case have been acquitted by the Durban high court.
Mabuyakhulu and his co-accused on Tuesday successfully brought an application for acquittal in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act on the grounds that the state had failed to provide sufficient evidence against them to secure a conviction.
Mabuyakhulu was arrested in 2018 over payments made to service providers who had been hired to assist in staging the jazz festival in Durban in 2012 while he was member of the executive council (MEC) for economic development and tourism.
The festival was never held after the Netherlands-based partners pulled out of the event, but local events coordinators and other business people received payments from the department, which sponsored the event.
The group, which included former department head Desmond Golding and socialites and event managers Caesar Mkhize and Mabheleni Ntuli, were charged with corruption, fraud and money laundering over the payments.
Mabuyakhulu allegedly received R300 000 from one of the service providers in the form of a deposit into his bank account. He was arrested and charged over this payment.
At the time of his arrest, Mabuyakhulu, who also served as cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC in the province and as ANC provincial treasurer, was the convener of the interim provincial committee put in place by Luthuli House to run the party in the conference ahead of its provincial conference.
In March 2019 he stood down from his ANC tasks in terms of the party’s step-aside rule, which states that members and leaders charged with serious crimes are compelled to do so.
The decision resulted in Mabuyakhulu, a key figure in the campaign to elect Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president in December 2017, losing out on a seat in parliament.
The ANC in the province has applauded the acquittal of Mabuyakhulu and welcomed him back to the party.
Provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said Mabuyakhulu had shown a high level of discipline and maturity during the entire process and had voluntarily stepped aside from his ANC posts — and a parliamentary seat — in a “public display of selflessness”.
Mabuyakhulu had also subjected himself to the party’s integrity commission, which had also cleared him, Mtolo said.
Mabuyakhulu told the Mail & Guardian that he would be spending time reflecting on his experience before deciding whether to take any action against the state for unlawful arrest.
“There is no decision that I have taken. I will need to take counsel and appropriate advice on what the course of action should be,” he said. “I will give myself time to reflect on what one needs to do. I also want to give myself time to enjoy the fact that I am now a free man who can enjoy my rights as such.”
Mabuyakhulu said he was still a member of the ANC — he renewed this for another five years in January — and would be campaigning for the party between now and the national and provincial elections next year.
He said the courts had vindicated his stance at the time of his arrest that he was not guilty.
“I said then that there was no case against me, that there was no prima facie evidence, and I have been vindicated by the findings of the court,” Mabuyakhulu said.
Mabuyakhulu said he had decided to step aside from his ANC duties after his arrest to “protect the image and reputation of the ANC” and that he had approached its integrity commission with a 700-page submission to prove his innocence.
The commission had cleared Mabuyakhulu and recommended that he resume his ANC duties, but he had decided not to do so and had withdrawn himself from the party’s parliamentary list in 2019.
“I have carried myself with great respect for the internal process of the party and with great respect for the external processes, including those of the rule of law,” Mabuyakhulu said.
“I even asked the ANC and the alliance partners not to bring members or leaders to court. I told them that I would like to deal with this as an individual so that I am not impugning the image of the ANC.”