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He claims that Swarts gave him an ABSA account number on a page with ANC letterheads, and he did not suspect fraud until he realised that the donation did not reach the party.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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A businessman who has laid a fraud charge against deputy Public Works and Infrastructure minister, Bernice Swarts, has accused the ANC of protecting her and even unashamedly putting her on its candidates list.

Tuwani Matthews Mulaudzi has been trying for a decade to reclaim R500 000 that he donated to the ANC in 2013 but ended up in Swarts’ personal bank account and did not reach the party.   With interest, Swarts’ debt is now about R2million.

All of Mulaudzi’s attempts to alert the ANC’s leadership in Luthuli House, Integrity Commission and the party’s deployees in parliament have been futile. Mulaudzi said that he expected the party to act against Swarts or apply the step aside rule.

Swarts is President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ally. She first came into the spotlight when it was reported that she had received R16 million from an account linked to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR17 campaign for the ANC leadership.

Mulaudzi donated the money after Swarts and former Gauteng Film Commission CEO and businessman, Andile Mbeki, approached him at Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria, requesting a donation for the party’s 2014 elections campaign.

RELATED: NPA still pursuing fraud case against deputy minister Bernice Swarts

He claims that Swarts gave him an ABSA account number on a page with ANC letterheads, and he did not suspect fraud until he realised that the donation did not reach the party.

Mulaudzi recently reported the matter for the umpteenth time, but still there is no action from the party.

“There is no doubt that the renewal and self-correction of the ANC is a pipe dream. There is no commitment to renew the organisation hence you see criminally-charged individuals on the list,” he said.

“I’m equally convinced that she is being protected by both Luthuli House and the Union Buildings for reasons best known to them. The ANC Electoral Committee has failed dismally on acting on this matter and the less said about the Integrity Commission and veyerans who pronounced publicly that they won’t be led by criminals, the better. They have all turned a blind eye to thuggery.”

ANC secretary, Fikile Mabalula, and spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, did not respond to written questions.

NPA LOOKING FOR KEY WITNESS

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has claimed in a correspondence City Press has seen that it was looking for Mbeki and could not find him.

The People’s Eye has seen correspondence dated February 29 2024 in which Gauteng’s director of public prosecutions, Advocate Marika Janse Van Vuuren, told Mulaudzi that the police could not trace Mbeki.

 “The suspect, Andile Mbeki, cannot be traced at this stage and the search for him will continue. Once he has been traced, a final decision will be made,” Janse Van Vuuren wrote. “Please inform the investigating officer of any information you may have about the whereabouts of Mr Mbeki,” she added.

Mulaudzi responded: “Unfortunately I can't be of any further assistance (as you have requested in your letter) as I have no police capabilities. I am certain we now have no choice but to deal with the main and in my view, the only suspect, whose whereabouts we know, being the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.”

Mulaudzi opened a case at Sunnyside police station in 2013. The case number is 398/09/2013. Since then, the docket has reportedly been lost twice, he said.

MAJODINA PROMISED TO INFORM LUTHULI HOUSE

According to voluminous messages The People’s Eye has seen, Mulaudzi heightened his campaign to reclaim the cash in 2020 after he had lost contact with Swarts and he saw her being sworn in as Member of Parliament.

Mulaudzi has approached ANC chief whip, Pemmy Majodina, former speaker of Parliament, Thandi Modise, and the ANC’s Integrity Commission – all but in vain.

Majodina’s investigation concluded that Swarts had put the ANC in disrepute and recommended that she must pay back the money. She promised Mulaudzi in a WhatsApp message that she would forward a formal submission to the ANC and then Speaker of Parliament, Thandi Modise.

This year, Mulaudzi has approached national ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe and the party’s electoral committee member, Kgalema Motlanthe, to make them aware of the charge against Swarts.