SIYABONGA SITHOLE
A preliminary investigation by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has revealed that over 18 phone calls were made between Ismail Abramjee and Justice Jody Kollapen as well as Judge President Dunstan Mlambo between January and April 2022.
The investigation by the public protector says the text message by Abramjee claiming that he had it on good authority that the Constitutional Court would dismiss her rescission application case reveals that these calls were exchanged between January 4, 2022 and April 22, 2022. This is said to be two days before Advocate Andrew Breitenbach SC received the controversial SMS.
According to the investigation, the shortest call lasted three seconds and the longest call over 6 minutes, or 436 seconds.
Mkhwebane, in her report, says cellphone records revealed communication between Abramjee and a number issued for Mlambo on the day.
She says there exists a motive for criminality and generous motives in the manner of the communication between Abramjee and the members of the Justice Department. As such, Mkhwebane said, she has closed the text message investigation and has referred the matter to the Hawks and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
“Furthermore, the complaint carries all the hallmarks of criminality and nefarious motives by Mr Abramjee and his accomplices. Consequently, the complaint may not be executed fully without the mandate of the public protector without bringing it to the attention or notice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Hawks,” Mkhwebane said.
Her investigation into Abramjee’s conduct comes after the controversy of a leaked SMS in which he claimed that he “had it on good authority that the Constitutional Court has declined to hear the public protector’s rescission application, adding that the decision would be made sometime this week but no later than Friday. I thought I would just share this with you on a strictly confidential basis.”
It is this SMS that was seen as a sign of judicial capture as it compromised the integrity of the justice system. When asked to comment on the 18 calls exchanged between himself and those implicated in the communication, Abramjee declined and told this newspaper that he was in the process of serving court papers against this newspaper for crimen injuria and defamation of character following a recent article.
The investigation by the public protector also reveals that the controversial SMS is not the only SMS exchange between Abramjee and Breitenbach as there is another SMS on August 21, 2021. This text, sent at 9.48, is closely linked to the rules governing the challenges of the impeachment process against her.
Quoting this SMS, the public protector said she believes there is enough evidence to suggest that there was a close association between Abramjee and judicial officers.
“The cumulative weight of this evidence, as highlighted in the SMS sent to advocate Breitenbach by Mr Abramjee, the frequency of communication or the close association between Abramjee and judicial officers, are all sufficient to lay a foundation of belief upon which to invoke section 14(1) of the Judicial Service Commission,” Mkhwebane said.