Will the State protect Mafuta?
Sharon Mathala | Monday May 22, 2023 06:00
Jet Mafuta has been slapped with a P2 million defamation suit by the suspended Director General of the DCEC Tymon Katholo, a P658,699 suit for unlawful arrest, detention, and infringement of the right to privacy, dignity, and reputation from another DCEC top investigator and former senior assistant director (Legal Services), Andria German, and an extra P1 million suit from Tsholofelo Bareetsi.
It all allegedly happened in the line of duty.
Mafuta’s legal woes are expected to once again test the ‘loyalty’ of the state to its sleuths after their involvement in the ‘dirty work’ in the trenches that has left a string of unpleasantness and bitterness among state security organs.
The effective investigator in the line of duty seemingly caused many heads to roll.
The state was left exposed for seemingly ‘using and dumping’ investigators as in another high profile matter involving the alleged P100 billion state funds implicating DIS sleuth Wilheminah Maswabi popularly known as ‘Butterfly’ and by extension former president Ian Khama and others. The lead investigator and DCEC’s Hubona was left fending for himself in the subsequent legal suits that came about as a result of a discredited criminal case in which even Botswana’s own Chief Justice Terence Rannowane described as ‘malicious prosecution.’
Hubona at one point enjoyed security and protection from the DIS. He enjoyed 24/7 security even at his residential place and everywhere he went. He also travelled across the continents on the hunt for incriminating evidence against the accused persons in the ‘Butterfly’ matter.
At one point, one of the midweek newspapers reported that Hubona and his senior who were investigating the matter, were allegedly being trained on pistol shooting for their defence.
Fast-forward to November 2020, Hubona was left on his own. He was abandoned by the very State that once offered him high-end security. He was left to defend himself as the people he filed the ‘incriminating’ affidavit against came with guns blazing at him.
The hunter had now become the hunted.
The first of the matter came from former president Ian Khama, followed by South African businesswoman ambassador Bridgette Motsepe as well as the only accused person in the case, DIS agent Maswabi. The trio wanted damages for reputational harm, the predicament Mafuta finds himself in. Left alone, scared, and feeling used, Hubona stood for himself and engaged legal assistance from private attorney, Kgosietsile Ngakaagae.
Another addition to his injury, Judge Zein Kebonang, in 2021, recommended that disciplinary action be taken against him by his superiors. Soon after, he was reported for perjury to the police. Hubona has since been transferred from his DCEC post to Foreign Affairs ministry.
Now, following a barrage of defamation suits, it remains to be seen if the state will remain ‘loyal’ to Mafuta who faces a similar fate as Hubona.