Mbombela - Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has laid a criminal charge against his “brother” and “father” Mathews Phosa for alleging he was an apartheid spy.
According to City Press Mabuza said this during a media conference on Thursday following accusations from the SACP that he sent hooligans to disrupt the party’s memorial lecture to honour former Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala and former secretary Joe Slovo.
Phosa, a former Mpumalanga premier and ANC treasurer general, was invited to speak at the lecture but ANC members said they did not want him and they then started assaulting SACP members, causing the lecture to be called off.
Last year, Phosa sent a dossier to Luthuli House implying that Mabuza could have been an apartheid spy.
“I opened a criminal case against Mathews Phosa. What he did was very strange because he brought me up. He is my brother and father,” said Mabuza without giving further details.
Mabuza had also threatened to sue Phosa for R10m but the politician-turned-businessman said he had not received legal papers.
President Jacob Zuma’s spokesperson Mac Maharaj has been reluctant to reveal if the president would appoint a commission of inquiry as Mabuza requested.
Phosa was not available to comment if he was aware about the criminal charge.
Mabuza said he noted that SACP provincial secretary Bonakele Majuba had always been levelling accusations against him ranging from calling him a murderer, a corrupt leader and then an apartheid-era spy.
He denied that he had told Majuba at the ANC national executive committee lekgotla on the weekend that he instigated the supporters to disrupt the lecture because Phosa was invited.
“There is no problem between the SACP and ANC. There is a problem about Majuba. I met him [at the lekgotla] and told him what a coincidence it was that Phosa [who said I’m a spy] will now address the SACP lecture. He obviously took offence,” said Mabuza.
Mabuza said he was being attacked by people hell-bent on being premiers in order to have power and access resources.
Those people, he said, accused him of killing Mohlala and former Mpumalanga sports, arts and culture spokesperson Sammy Mpatlanyane.
He also attacked journalists he accused of meeting his rivals at night and of being conflicted and accepting bribes.
Mabuza said he knew about this because he got briefings from the intelligence.
“I’ll clean the province of all the string of lies,” he said.