WEDNESDAY, 6.30PM
PLAIN CLOTHES officials from the Mpumalanga safety and security department were rebuked by chief magistrate Heinrich Moldenhauer for intimidating witnesses at his inquiry into fake drivers’ licences. Moldenhauer summoned assistant director Phillip Mahlangu to his chambers, and complained to Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa.
A group of half a dozen officials stood outside the courtroom, stopping court orderlies and questioning them about the evidence, the names of witnesses, and what had been said about Mpumalanga safety and security MEC Steve Mabona, who allegedly reinstated 3 000 fake drivers’ licences while they were being investigated by police.
Moldenhauer said afterwards: “I told him that this commission will in no way allow even the impression that there is intimidation here. We have the power to immediately summon the police to deal with anyone accused of threatening or harassing witnesses or court officials — whether those accused are government officials or not.”
Today’s hearings were called off when three key witnesses suddenly sent apologies, saying they had been admitted to hospital with stress-related ailments. They are Mabona himself, provincial traffic director Henry Brazer, the man who issued the invalid driver’s licence to Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile, and Mabona’s head of department, Stanley Soko, accused of quashing an internal investigation into Mbete-Kgositsile’s license.