Judge Makhubele denies having any special interest with PRASA contractor Siyaya
The allegations include that during her time at the helm, she meddled in PRASA’s legal wrangling with Siyaya.
Pretoria High Court Judge Tintswalo Makhubele during her gross misconduct hearing at the Judicial Conduct Tribunal on 24 January 2024. Picture: @OCJ_RSA/X
JOHANNESBURG - Judge Tintswalo Makhubele’s vehemently denied having any special interest in PRASA’s (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) legal wrangling with state capture implicated contractor Siyaya, during her stint as interim board chair at the parastatal.
This surfaced as she continued her testimony before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal probing allegations of gross misconduct against her.
The allegations include that during her time at the helm, she meddled in PRASA’s legal wrangling with Siyaya.
Among the claims against Judge Makhubele is that she pushed through a secret settlement agreement with Siyaya that almost cost PRASA more than R50 million.
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And one of the questions the tribunal’s tasked with answering is whether - of all the cases PRASA was involved in - Makhubele paid special attention to those linked to Siyaya.
Previous witnesses at the tribunal have testified to her having had a special focus on them.
In her evidence before the tribunal on Thursday afternoon, though, she denied this.
"I was following up with Mr Dingiswayo and Ms Ngoye on our discussion on investigation reports so certainly the allegation that I was only interested in Siyaya matters is really - it’s not correct."
Proceedings have wrapped up for the day and the case will continue on Friday, with Makhubele still on the stand.