Premier Oscar Mabuyane has thrown down the gauntlet at the feet of AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo over the king’s allegations that the premier was colluding with extortionists.
Mabuyane has since opened a case against the king over his remarks.
The king made the allegations when addressing a crowd at Laphumikhwezi Primary School recently after cases of extortion affected at least five schools. One closed for a week as teachers and pupils feared for their lives.
The Dispatch has video footage of the king’s speech.
The king accused Mabuyane and other senior officials of being “beneficiaries” of self-styled Mthatha West headman Sakhumzi Dalinzolo Mareke who, along with two accomplices, was killed in a shootout in Mthatha with members of the police National Intervention Unit, tasked with tackling extortion syndicates in the province.
Dalindyebo has provided zero independent proof of his allegations.
On Tuesday, the premier told Newzroom Africa he would challenge Dalindyebo and any others accusing him of being a beneficiary of extortionists or working with them.
But the king was unmoved by Mabuyane’s comments.
Speaking to the Dispatch on Tuesday, the king said: “The premier is more than welcome to open a case if he wants to. He has been quiet all this time when the people in his province were suffering.
“I stand by what I said and if he wants to fight it, then so be it. I’m not moved in the slightest.
“I fear no man, and just as I stated it in public, he must fight it in public.
“Mabuyane is just trying to save himself from being exposed, because the main person accused of being an extortionist is dead.
“He’s trying to protect himself by throwing me under the bus because rather than going to lengths to prove innocence, he’s going to lengths to make me look like a liar.
“This is him using his power as premier to try to diminish me. Many of them have tried — naye makazame.”
Mabuyane said he has heard what the king has said and “I want the police to investigate that”.
“I will definitely open a case against the king. Today I will depose an affidavit against anyone who says such a thing without facts. He must come forward. He is mentioning everybody including MECs.
“We are the face of the government. We are dealing with crime. He says things loosely and recklessly like that ... I want police to go deeper and investigate that and what he said.
“We want to expose everybody — whether a politician, a government leader, a traditional leader, or anyone. But we must also be alert for diversions.
“People who can stand up with a microphone to create all the wrong things so that people are not focusing on the real tasks ahead ... I am not going around to the media insulting and exchanging words with the king.”
Mabuyane said this was not the first time Dalindyebo had made accusations against him.
“He even said those things in a meeting where I was, but I took it lightly.
“But now there’s an opportunity for us to go deep because the king might have information we don’t have.
“I have been fighting these acts of crime since 2016 and that is why I have demanded the capacitation of police.
“I have been demanding soldiers to come to protect the people of the Eastern Cape against these mafias and ringleaders of extortion.
“Anybody who says things loosely must be held accountable.”
Mabuyane said as leader of the province he was responsible for protecting its citizens.
“A case of crimen injuria has been opened by community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha. I am joining him in that case against those who are part of this defamation of character championed by the king.”
But Nqatha’s spokesperson, Mkhaya Komisa, said the MEC's case was not against Dalindyebo.
“He is not even anticipating opening a case against the king.”
Komisa said the MEC had opened a case at East London’s Cambridge police station asking for crimen injuria and defamation charges to be investigated against the owner of a Facebook page who had repeated similar allegations.
“The MEC finds the circulating Facebook posting defamatory, feeling this seeks to divert him from the transformation and peace efforts he leads in the public transport sector, particularly in the taxi industry.”
Eastern Cape House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders chair Nkosi Mpumalanga Gwadiso said extortion was a serious problem but that “the premier must calm down and understand the context of the statement by the king”.
“Every responsible leader will in the spur of the moment utter words that show anger and despair at those in authority if, despite all the resources at their disposal, they are not doing anything to stop things like extortion, corruption and other crimes.
“The premier has a right to feel aggrieved though, but ought to look at the context and not personalise the matter.
“Even if his name has been mentioned, he must take that as a leader that all frustration is vented out regarding the sluggishness of the government he leads.
“There is a public outcry on extortion, people are angry, people are terrorised and killed, and there is distrust.
“If those in power are quiet amid a public outcry and their voices are not heard, utterances of this nature will reverberate and take centrestage,” Gwadiso said.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Siphokazi Mawisa confirmed that “the premier of the Eastern Cape opened a case of crimen injuria at the Bhisho SAPS on Tuesday”.
Mawisa said the transport MEC had also opened a case of crimen injuria at the Cambridge SAPS on Monday.
Both cases were being investigated, she added.
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