Mpati clears ConCourt justices in Abramjee sms probe
An investigation by retired Justice Lex Mpati into the Ismail Abramjee SMS saga found there was no leaking of confidential information by members of the Constitutional Court.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo appointed Mpati to investigate allegations of leaked information in the Abramjee’s SMS saga.
The SMS sent by Abramjee to Parliament’s legal counsel contained information on a Constitutional Court ruling on Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s rescission case.
The SMS was sent before the apex court ruled on the matter.
Mkhwebane’s office conducted an investigation, which revealed that 18 calls were exchanged between Abramjee and a number registered under the name of Justice Jody Kollapen.
She later referred the matter to the Justice Service Commission and the Hawks for investigation.
In the final report released on Friday, Justice Mpati says interviews were conducted with all the parties involved and he couldn’t find any evidence that confidential information was leaked.
"The other messages sent by Mr Abramjee to Adv Breitenbach SC do not constitute evidence, or proof, that Justice Kollapen, or anyone at the Constitutional Court, had been passing on confidential information to Mr Abramjee, but merely shows that the latter had communicated with Adv Breitenbach SC in the past.
“As to the employees of the Constitutional Court, Mr Mathiba's version was very clear: they do not know the decision of the court before it is brought to them to issue. The Judge's clerks could also not have been in a position to leak the final decision to Mr Abramjee, since it was to be finalized only at the final conference of 4 May 2022, while the controversial SMS was sent to Adv Breitenbach SC on 24 April 2022,” said Mpati.
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