By Anita Dangazele
- The EFF opened a criminal fraud case against Premier Oscar Mabuyane at kuGompo Police Station on Thursday, the day after he lost his defamation case against Julius Malema.
- EFF Provincial Chairperson Zilindile Vena said Mabuyane must resign immediately or the EFF will use its presence in the legislature to force him out.
The EFF has opened a criminal fraud case against Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane. The party went to KuGompo Police Station on Thursday 25 June, one day after Mabuyane lost his defamation case against EFF leader Julius Malema in the Eastern Cape High Court.
EFF Provincial Chairperson Zilindile Vena confirmed outside the station that the case had been opened and the party had received a case number.
“We came to the police station to open a case against the sitting premier, Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, of fraud. And indeed, we were serviced well in this station. We have a case number,” Vena said.
The dispute began in April, when Malema stood outside the kuGompo magistrate’s court and told supporters that Mabuyane had stolen a master’s degree from the University of Fort Hare. Malema had just been sentenced to five years in prison for firing a rifle into the air at a rally eight years ago. He pointed at the Premier and called for his arrest.
Mabuyane demanded an apology. Malema refused. The Premier took him to the Eastern Cape High Court, asking the court to declare the statements false and defamatory and to bar Malema from repeating them. Judge Jannie Eksteen dismissed the application with costs on Tuesday, finding that once the defence of truth and public interest is established, a public figure cannot be shielded from criticism.
Vena said the EFF submitted the findings of the Horizon Forensics report — commissioned by the University of Fort Hare — to the police as the basis for the fraud case. The report found that Mabuyane did not meet the admission requirements for the master’s programme and that his research proposal was produced by ghostwriters.
Vena also named Professor Edwin Ijeoma, who previously headed the University of Fort Hare’s Department of Public Sector Economics, alleging that Ijeoma and his team wrote Mabuyane’s research proposal. Ijeoma was suspended by the university in late 2020 amid investigations into the irregular admission of prominent politicians. He resigned in February 2021 before a disciplinary inquiry could be concluded.
Vena said Mabuyane must step down without delay.
“We are opening this case so that Oscar Mabuyane can resign, do the honourable thing of resigning,” he said.
The EFF threatened to use its seats in the Eastern Cape legislature to force Mabuyane out if the ANC does not act. Vena said the party would fight any attempt to shield Mabuyane from step-aside rules.
Mabuyane has maintained throughout that he never held a master’s degree and never claimed to. His legal team is examining grounds for an appeal against Tuesday’s judgment.
A separate case in which he is challenging the university’s decision to deregister him from the master’s programme is still before the courts.
Pictured above: EFF Provincial Chairperson Zilindile Vena speaking outside KuGompo Police Station on Thursday 25 June 2026.
Image source: EFF
