'Well, this has never happened before,' Special Investigating Unit spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said on Tuesday a few hours after the premier of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane, obtained a court order to have himself excluded from an ongoing investigation into Fort Hare University -- despite an assertion from the SIU that they had found prima facie evidence of fraud, corruption and maladministration.

On Tuesday afternoon, the lawyers of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) had a meeting to discuss the ruling by the Bhisho High Court compelling them to provisionally exclude Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane from their probe into irregularities at Fort Hare University.

"This has never happened before," SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said. "We must discuss what to do."

It is the first time in the history of the SIU that one of its investigations has been interdicted. In a statement issued later on Tuesday, the SIU indicated that it was encouraged by the judge's suggestion that it can ask for the proclamation to be amended.

Kganyago stressed that the interdict was temporary and would remain in place only until Mabuyane's review application has been ruled on.

In terms of the rules of the court, a provisional interdict, like the one that was issued by the Bhisho High Court, cannot be appealed against.

The interdict that excludes Mabuyane from being investigated in the SIU's probe will remain in place until a court has ruled on a number of legal problems that the premier's lawyers have raised regarding a proclamation signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022.

Ramaphosa said...