Former Usindiso Building residents say they have a reasonable apprehension of bias against Advocate Thulani Makhubela, one of the commissioners at the Commission of Inquiry investigating the August Marshalltown fire.
Seventy-seven people perished in the fire at a five-storey building. The residents made an application through their Counsel Advocate Jason Brickhill, to have Makhubela recused from the inquiry for Tweets they deemed to be xenophobic. The Commission of Inquiry is seized with investigating what caused the fire, who is responsible for it, and the prevalence of hijacked buildings in the Johannesburg CBD.
Advocate Jason Brickhill began proceedings by filing an application for the recusal of Commissioner Thulani Makhubela. According to Brickhill, Makhubela expressed his support for Operation Dudula and Hashtag Put South Africans First in a myriad of tweets spanning almost six years. In the tweets Makhubela is seen to be supporting the two groups’ anti-foreigner sentiments.
“First tweet captured SA as having an immigration problem. Some of the tweets refer to illegal immigrants and others to foreigners. Several of tweets, foreign nationals are associated with criminal activity and reference to Hilbrow being taken over. Third view from late tweets is that there should be no state house provision for foreign nationals. Some refer to undocumented persons others all foreign nationals. Support for the organisation operation Dudula and Put SA first from repeated hashtags. Tweets expressing support for Nhlanhla Lux and for the support of a new branch of Operation Dudula,” says Adv Brickhill
Brickhill also submitted that some of the residents allege that Operation Dudula could have been responsible for the fire that broke out at Usindiso Building in August.
“Prior to the fire residents were threatened and assaulted by Operation Dudula members, on the morning of the fire as fire was being extinguished, Dudula members came to the scene, two media reports confirm Dudula came on the morning of the fire,” Brickhill added.
Makhubela who was present at the commission labeled as irregular, the manner in which the chairperson of the commission was informed of an intention to recuse one of her commissioners.
“If you were an applicant and you go to the judge and sit with her to the exclusion of everyone else, it’s gross irregularity, would you agree,” says Makhubela.
The matter resumed at a new venue, after being postponed due to the previous venue not being compliant with the City’s fire control by-laws.
