Pretoria - The knives are out between two senior ANC comrades - Mathews Phosa and Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza.
Mabuza’s advocate has accused Phosa of fabricating a report in which the premier was made out to be an apartheid spy. He also said Phosa alleged that Mabuza was involved in the murder of former ANC activist, Portia Shabangu.
Read: Jessie Duarte asked me about David Mabuza - Phosa
Shabangu was assassinated in the 1980s by controversial head of Vlakplaas, Eugene de Kock.
Shabangu’s daughter, Marcia Khoza, took the stand to testify on behalf of Mabuza in the R10-million defamation lawsuit he instituted against Phosa.
Khoza told Judge Bill Prinsloo of the high court in Pretoria, that she met Phosa at the Nelspruit airport - about four months after the so-called spy report on Mabuza was sent to the ANC top structure.
Read: Phosa's ex-butler to tell all on Juju
Khoza said Phosa sat next to her on the flight to Joburg and hailed her for having visited De Kock in prison.
She testified Phosa told her De Kock pulled the trigger that killed her mother, but it was not the end of the matter. Phosa also told her that Mabuza was involved in the murder.
This evidence was cut short when Phosa’s advocate, Mike Maritz, vehemently objected. He asked the court to strike this evidence from the court record, as it had nothing to do with the defamation case. Maritz said this evidence was sprung on them - and it was highly prejudicial to Phosa and should not be allowed.
Mabuza’s advocate said this evidence was important, as it showed “malice” on the part of Phosa.
Judge Prinsloo ruled in favour of Phosa and ordered this evidence be removed from the record. The judge said it did not form part of the defamation case and if it was allowed, it would prejudice Phosa.
The former ANC treasurer-general on Thursday testified in defence of the claim against him. The court was packed to the brim with Mabuza supporters bused in from Mpumalanga to support their leader.
Phosa said he never compiled the so-called spy report. He said an unmarked envelope was found on the veranda of his White River farmhouse. Inside the envelope was a document which later became known as the so-called spy report.
“I was shocked by its content and worried about it, as it referred to the premier. The allegations were so serious that I decided to hand it over to the ANC top structures. If the allegations were true, the report could harm the ANC leadership. Only a traitor of the ANC would hide it from them.”
Phosa said he forwarded the report to ANC secretary-general Jessie Duarte, as before this she had visited him to discuss party issues. At the end of the meeting Duarte, out of the blue, asked him “who is this David Mabuza”, he said.
“When I held office as Premier of Mpumalanga, I appointed Mabuza as education MEC and he served under me as part of my executive cabinet.”
After this Phosa did not hear anything until a reporter phoned and asked him whether he knew that Mabuza was going to sue him.
Phosa denied that he had anything to do with the report and said his former butler, Jan Venter - who is at the centre of this dispute - lied when he implicated him (Phosa).
Venter testified that he overheard Phosa “concocting” the spy allegations against Mabuza. But the controversial butler twice switched sides. In October last year Venter buried the hatchet with Phosa and during a media conference publicly apologised to his former employer.
But Venter is now back in the Mabuza camp and said his statement to the media contained lies as he was told by someone close to Phosa what to say.
Venter, among others, had said Mabuza paid him to lie. He later recanted and said this was not true.
Phosa said Venter made the statement out of his own - the only portion he suggested was that Venter asked President Jacob Zuma for forgiveness for involving him in all this.
Pretoria News