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Mpumalanga 'land claims scam'

Daily Maverick exposes the circumstances that led to the R1-billion damages claim brought by conservationist Fred Daniel against, amongst others, the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and former deputy president David Mabuza.

Daily Maverick exposes the circumstances that led to the R1-billion damages claim brought by conservationist Fred Daniel against, amongst others, the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and former deputy president David Mabuza.

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Fred Daniel, David Mabuza

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC vs David Mabuza: Expert silk joins Fred Daniel’s legal team

In December 2023, the same month that Daily Maverick revealed the discharge of the trial judge by President Cyril Ramaphosa, we received a tip-off that advocate and land rights expert Tembeka Ngcukaitobi had joined forces with Fred Daniel in his marathon legal battle against David Mabuza, South Africa’s former deputy president. Then, in late January 2024, the day after Ngcukaitobi confirmed his place at the head of Daniel’s team, it was revealed that the two senior counsel for the government defendants were likely to face a misconduct probe.

Kevin Bloom 29 January 2024
cyril signature mabuza daniel

In new Stalingrad defence low, Ramaphosa’s discharge of DD Mabuza trial judge delays truth for many more years

On 24 July 2023, for reasons that remain unknown to Daily Maverick, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed an order that discharged Judge Cassim Sardiwalla from his duties at the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria. As the trial judge in the Fred Daniel matter, Sardiwalla was presiding over evidence that implicated David Mabuza, South Africa’s former deputy president, in a large Mpumalanga criminal enterprise. Was there a conspiracy to quash the case?

Kevin Bloom 4 December 2023
mabuza fred daniel

Fearful witness gives explosive testimony against former deputy president Mabuza

The last week of the fifth session of case number 34502/2010, the long-running civil trial that has pitted conservationist Fred Daniel against former Deputy President David Mabuza, was marked by testimony that included allegations of political interference, fears of assassination and details of endemic corruption at the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. Oh yes, and another witness gave testimony on an alleged framing attempt. So what does the sixth session hold?

Kevin Bloom 21 June 2023
daniel mabuza

Fred Daniel vs outgoing Deputy President: Senior counsel, NPA prosecutor named in ‘framing’ allegations

In an affidavit and WhatsApp messages obtained by Daily Maverick, evidence has emerged that advocate Dawie Joubert, a senior counsel and member of the Bar’s examination board, has been involved in an attempt to frame conservationist Fred Daniel. Together with two suspects named alongside Deputy President David Mabuza in Outa’s recent criminal complaint to the NPA, a senior public prosecutor has been implicated too. The documents suggest that the fraudulent activities of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency are ongoing.

Kevin Bloom 21 February 2023
Illustrative image. Photos: Deputy President David Mabuza at the ANC’s national executive committee meeting in Cape Town, 23 March 2018. Photo by Leila Dougan / Paweł Czerwiński/Unsplash

Mabuza breaks his silence — and reveals the weakness of his defence

Despite his reputation as a politician who presided over several Mpumalanga government departments wracked by vulgar corruption, Deputy President ‘DD’ Mabuza hardly ever responds to announcements about fresh probes into his misdeeds. So the press release his office issued on Wednesday in response to a criminal complaint laid against him is remarkable – both for breaking the silence and for illustrating the weakness of his defence.

Rehana Rossouw 8 December 2022
David Mabuza Fred Daniel

‘Land scam kingpin’ – Deputy President David Mabuza named as top suspect in organised crime complaint

On the morning of 5 December 2022, the Investigating Directorate of the NPA received a criminal complaint from the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, with Deputy President DD Mabuza named as the lead suspect. The allegations cover a litany of charges that stretch from 2002 to the present day, mainly to do with the ‘land claims scam’ and the case of conservationist and whistle-blower Fred Daniel. For the first time, all aspects of the case are submitted in a single affidavit, including the contents of the “missing dockets” as reported by Daily Maverick in August 2022. “Hotlinks” to the attendant evidence are also included in the complaint.

Kevin Bloom 5 December 2022
Deputy President David Mabuza and his wife Nonhlanhla Patience Minisi during the inauguration of ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa as head of state of the Republic of South Africa at Loftus Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa. The swearing in of Ramaphosa, which follows the 8 May general elections, was held at the stadium instead of the Union Buildings in order to allow more public attendance and participation. Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng administered the affirmation of the president to the republic and his faithfulness to the constitution. (Photo by Gallo Images/Lefty Shivambu)

‘Disgust’ of the judiciary: Stalingrad written all over David Mabuza’s defence in land claims fraud case

On Friday, 2 September, the fourth session of conservationist Fred Daniel’s R1-billion civil claim against the South African government came to an end in the Pretoria High Court. With the fate of Deputy President David Mabuza in the balance, counsel for the defence had managed — once again — to avoid any engagement with the material facts. But the judge, visibly angry, promised closure before the end of the year.

Kevin Bloom 9 September 2022
David Mabuza Fred Daniel

Revealed: David Mabuza, Fred Daniel and the missing crime dockets

Just days after Daily Maverick implicated Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi, the wife of Deputy President David Mabuza, in a land claims scam in Mpumalanga, the Hawks told whistle-blower Fred Daniel that the matter would be investigated. By our reckoning, the circumstantial evidence pointed to one place – but a few months (and a few crucial missing court dockets) later, it seems the investigation has run out of steam.

Kevin Bloom 7 August 2022
R1bn daniel-mabuza case

Conservationist vs DD Mabuza: Threats ‘likely to escalate’ as resumption of trial looms

On 9 June 2022, when they were meant to be representing Deputy President David Mabuza and a host of government entities at a pre-trial meeting of the Pretoria High Court, senior counsel Mike Hellens and Dawie Joubert were in Dubai with the Guptas. But, according to a letter to the state attorney written by conservationist Fred Daniel’s lawyers, this was not the major concern. Security issues, in the days leading up to the resumption of the trial, were paramount in the missive.

Kevin Bloom 21 July 2022
Illustrative image: Deputy President David Mabuza and his wife Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi. (Photo: Gallo Images / Lefty Shivambu) | Landscape of Barberton Mountain Lands. (Photo: Kevin Bloom)

Case number 35402/2010 – the Mabuzas and the giant Mpumalanga land claims ‘scam’

In early February 2022, a witness statement was submitted to the North Gauteng High Court that alleged Nonhlanhla Patience Mnisi, the wife of South Africa’s deputy president, had received “substantial commissions” on a sale of contested land in Badplaas. The witness, attorney Richard Spoor, was not led in oral testimony on the allegation, which kicked off an independent investigation by Daily Maverick. Following the trail led us back to 2004, to the core of the land claims scam itself. Along the way, we encountered a fake community trust, spurious land claims, brazen conmen and the involvement of Pam Golding Properties.

Kevin Bloom 19 March 2022
daniel mabuza

Assassins, elephants and sweating advocates in Barberton Mountain Lands

On a scorching weekday in early February, case number 35402/2010 of the Pretoria High Court travelled to the Barberton Mountain Lands, for an in loco inspection of the nature reserve formerly known as Nkomazi Wilderness. What the court saw, with counsel for Deputy President DD Mabuza in attendance, were the sites of more than a few allegedly heinous crimes. So was a good time had by all? Perhaps not.

Kevin Bloom 7 February 2022
mabuza letwaba daniel

Claws out for DD ‘The Cat’ Mabuza as his past comes back to haunt him

On Thursday, Fred Daniel’s R1-billion civil action against the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and another 24 government entities resumed in the Pretoria High Court. But with the evidence of corruption and fraud stacking up against Deputy President David Mabuza, this isn’t the only matter that the former Mpumalanga premier has to worry about. The allegations of political murders are resurfacing too.

Kevin Bloom 24 January 2022
dd mabuza daniel

Conservationist vs David Mabuza: Court hears evidence of massive land claims fraud

The Pretoria High Court has heard that in the winter of 2008, behind a hostage situation in the Badplaas police station and a violent protest outside the Nkomazi Wilderness nature reserve, the spectre of David Dabede Mabuza loomed large. Despite the best attempts of the deputy president’s counsel to quash the evidence, the court also heard testimony that linked these events to massive land claims fraud, with the findings of investigator Paul O’Sullivan laying out the paper trail.

Kevin Bloom 8 September 2021
daniels mabuza

Conservationist Fred Daniel vs Deputy President Mabuza: A secret history of the state’s ‘Stalingrad defence’

The first three days of the high court showdown between conservationist Fred Daniel and Deputy President David Mabuza have been marred by a series of avoidable delays. Daily Maverick has obtained access to court documents that suggest these delays are all part of a much broader strategy – employed by former president Jacob Zuma in the Arms Deal corruption saga, the strategy has recently achieved local fame as the ‘Stalingrad defence’.

Kevin Bloom 19 August 2021
Deputy president and former Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Masi Losi) | Gauteng High Court. (Photo: Gallo Images / Lefty Shivambu) | Adobe Stock

Dead Matter (Part Three): David Mabuza, Fred Daniel and the trial of Mpumalanga’s collapse

With political corruption on the rise as fast as natural resources are running dry, the protection of the planet’s biodiversity faces a dark and dangerous threat — and nowhere is this as obvious as in the damage that has been done to Mpumalanga’s game parks. To this end, can Deputy President David Mabuza afford to allow the North Gauteng High Court to consider the evidence in Fred Daniel’s R1-billion civil suit? Whatever the answer, it won’t be about the money.

Kevin Bloom 15 March 2021
Deputy president and former Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza. (Illustrative image | Sources / Photos: Gallo Images / Beeld / Theana Breugem) | GroundUp / Ashraf Hendricks | EPA-EFE / Jon Hrusa | EPA-EFE / Kim Ludbrook)

Dead Matter (Part Two): The lion, the conservationist and South Africa’s future deputy president

In the second of this three-part series, Daily Maverick drills deeper into the evidence that links the history of fraud and corruption in the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency to the land claims scam orchestrated and run by senior members of the provincial government. Although the North Gauteng High Court will begin to consider the evidence in July 2021, with Deputy President DD Mabuza watching closely for mention of his name, it’s clear from the facts that precious time has been lost — if South Africa’s biodiversity is to be saved for future generations, the case will need to draw a line in the sand.

Kevin Bloom 11 March 2021
Former Mpumalanga premier and current Deputy President David Mabuza. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Masi Losi) | Gauteng High Court. (Photo: Gallo Images / Lefty Shivambu) | Unsplash | Adobe Stock | EPA / NIC BOTHMA

Dead Matter (Part One): How political corruption decimated Mpumalanga’s biodiversity

In the first of this three-part series, Daily Maverick begins to outline the circumstances that led to the R1bn damages claim brought by conservationist Fred Daniel against the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and a host of government entities in 2010. Due to kick off in July 2021, the case may turn out to be the most significant civil matter yet heard by the North Gauteng High Court – not because the name of South Africa’s deputy president, David Mabuza, is all over the plaintiff’s papers, but because the future of one of the planet’s most threatened biomes is at stake.

Kevin Bloom 9 March 2021

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