A former ANC chaplain and his wife, who are persons of interest in a Hawks investigation, have open a police case of intimidation and harassment against a Sunday Times journalist — for asking them for comment for a story he was working on.
Senior investigative journalist Thanduxolo Jika reported about the Hawks probing allegations of conflict of interest and irregularities related to a multimillion-rand Eastern Cape government tender involving Sizwe Africa IT, while Rev Vukile Mehana was the company’s executive chair.
Mehana married Naledi Mbude-Mehana, then a department employee, just months after two payments totalling R330m were made to Sizwe Africa IT, the Sunday Times reported two weeks ago. The payments were made by the Eastern Cape education department, where Mbule-Mehana had served as HOD.
Jika also reported last week how the couple’s palatial Midrand home, which sits on a 2.5ha erf, boasting 12 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and a chapel, was listed for sale for R23m days after the Sunday Times published the story.
In response, the Mehanas opened a case of intimidation and harassment against Jika after he contacted them for comment. Gauteng police spokesperson Mavela Masondo confirmed that Midrand police were investigating a case of intimidation and harassment. “No arrests have been made. Investigations are underway,” Masondo said.
Jika was this week contacted by police officers who said they wanted to speak to him about the matter. He felt the move by the Mehanas was “clearly meant to intimidate me”.
“I was simply doing my job when I contacted Rev Mehana and his wife Dr Mbude, seeking clarity and comment from them regarding allegations made against them,” Jika said, adding he was caught by surprise when the couple called him from a police station “accusing me of harassing and intimidating them”.
Jika said: “I only contacted the couple for comment and nothing else. Instead, they accused me of carrying out a personal vendetta against them.”
Sunday Times and TimesLIVE editor Makhudu Sefara said the opening of a case by the Mehanas on the basis of journalism work by Jika was “an obvious, if not desperate, attempt to intimidate him and the Sunday Times”.
He said the company would provide Jika with the “necessary support, including legal heft to fight off this spurious legal challenge”.
Sefara added: “This is a despicable attempt to muzzle our freedom to report news without intimidation. That this comes from someone who is supposedly associated with the ANC, a liberation movement that fought for this freedom, is even more disappointing.
"But Mehana must be informed that a newspaper with a history of investigative journalism like the Sunday Times will not be deterred from doing a story that is in the public interest, by cheap intimidatory tactics. If anything, the Mehanas’ stratagem has reignited our resolve to look into alleged malfeasance relating to the their multimillion contracts.”
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