An exchange in the legislature between education MEC Mandla Makapula and EFF MPLs Yazini Tetyana and Litha Zibula has revealed that two private law firms working for the department have informal links with an official in the department.
In his answers to questions posed by the EFF pair, Makapula said the department deviated from normal legal procurement processes because the state attorney’s office was failing to defend the department in 25 cases in the Mthatha High Court.
A Dispatch investigation has revealed that two private law firms providing legal services to the department are linked to the department’s legal services director, Eddie Scheun.
After Makupula initially explained in his responses how one of the firms was contracted, the department has now made an about-turn and will be investigating the allegations.
Education SG Themba Kojana is now to launch the probe.
Contacted for comment, department spokesman Mali Mtima did not respond to specific questions but said Kojana had noted the allegations as they were previously “aired” in legislature questions by the EFF.
“He [Kojana] will take steps to fully investigate the allegations before we can be in a position to respond to all your questions,” Mtima said.
The EFF voiced their concerns over Scheun’s close relations with legal firms that were doing work for the department.
Contacted for comment, Scheun referred the Dispatch to the department’s response.
Scheun was seconded from the national education department to the province in 2014. In 2015 he successfully applied for the post of legal services director. From January 2016 to March 2018 his brother Abraham Scheun’s firm Investigations Services Unlimited (ISU) received payments from the department totalling R1.4m.
From June 2016 to March 2017, the firm received a further R403,226. This is according to Makapula’s responses.
Abraham Scheun refused to comment on repeated requests to give his side of the story. “Sir I would like to refer you back to the department of education. My comment is that you should rather speak with the department of education and get the necessary information from them,” he said.
“I’m trying to make myself clear, please refer the ISU inquiry to the department. I’m not sure how it involves me.
“I will not discuss this over the phone, I will hear from the department, I am a service provider to the department,” he said.
The Dispatch can further reveal that the department deviated from procurement processes to appoint Eddie Scheun’s former employers, Changfoot Van Breda, to deal with a backlog of cases in the Mthatha office.
Numerous attempts to get comment from the firm’s director, Henry van Breda, were unsuccessful. Questions sent to his e-mail address on Thursday were not responded to.
The e-mail was also forwarded to his office but no response was received. Numerous calls were made to his cell phone and were picked up several times by someone who identified herself as his wife. Asked if she could assist with soliciting responses from him she said: “Don’t you think maybe he does not want to respond?”
Another attempt to contact him was made on Monday and his secretary told the Dispatch that she had forwarded the questions again to him. “I’ve let him know that you have called this morning and that is as far as I can tell you until such time that he gives a response. Sorry I cannot discuss this anymore with you,” she said.
The Dispatch also contacted Neil Ristow from Changfoot Van Breda who said: “Mr van Breda is unfortunately off sick at the moment.
“We do not know when he will be back in office.”
In his reply, Makapula wrote: “Because of the nature of the challenges and constraints and the urgency to address these [25 cases in Mthatha], the accounting officer [of the department] took a decision to, as an emergency step, remove matters from the office of the state attorney in Mthatha and instruct private attorneys.”
This was how Changfoot Van Breda was appointed, he said.
Makapula wrote: “The firm was appointed following an emergency procurement process after market research and the evaluation of their proposal to conduct litigation in relation to 25 matters in the Mthatha High Court to which the state attorney had been unable to give attention.”
He said the step to bypass the state attorney’s office was necessary to protect the interests of the department.
According to Makapula, Eddie Scheun worked for Changfoot Van Breda as a professional assistant and was a partner for eight months before leaving the firm in 1996...