Witness died with ‘no justice’

UKZN med school probe crumbles

LAST week was a sad day in the Masikane household. It would have marked the 44th birthday of Siphamandla Masikane, who worked as an investigations officer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). But he died in October last year following Covid-19 complications.

Masikane was the main witness in a criminal trial involving Avril Sahadew. In 2012, she joined the university as a forensic audit specialist.

Four years later she took over the investigation of Operation Clever which aimed to probe the sale of placements at the university’s medical school.

It subsequently emerged that the university had forked out more than R73 million on the investigation. Most of the money, about R42 million, was used to pay for Sahadew’s guards, cars and a safe house for her to live in.

The university said Sahadew had received threats but did not elaborate.

In 2017, Masikane claimed to have information that implicated Sahadew in irregularities. He claimed that when he approached her, her bodyguards (paid for by the university) locked him in her office until he provided the evidence he had.

Masikane reported the matter to the university but was suspended for two years while his claims were investigated. In 2019, he appealed against his suspension and was reinstated to his position.

He then opened a case of defeating the ends of justice, kidnapping, and crimen injuria against Sahadew at the Westville SAPS. As a result, Sahadew was removed from Operation Clever.

The criminal matter involving Masikane was being heard in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court when he died. It has since been withdrawn.

Masikane’s widow, Hlengiwe, said she was disappointed that her husband had died without getting justice.

“He was an upright man. He stood for justice. When he saw someone doing something wrong, he believed they needed to face the consequences. My husband was a good person, who only wanted to expose the wrongdoings at the university,” said Hlengiwe.

Hlengiwe said before joining UKZN, Masikane worked for the Newcastle SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.

On the day her husband was allegedly being held captive, she said he was due to fetch their children – now aged 8 and 10 – from school. “I was at the gym and my phone was in a locker. Our children had to wait at school until 7.30pm to be fetched. They were traumatised and so were we. We went through so much as a result of his suspension. He had to fight for his job.

“This past week has been difficult for me and our children. Other than his birthday, last week was also the first day of school for the children. My husband was always so excited to drop the kids off at school and take pictures of them. This year, we felt the void. We couldn’t even bring ourselves to take pictures because he was not with us.”

Meanwhile, Visham Panday, an anti-corruption activist, who has lobbied for justice at UKZN, said: “It is sad that the complainant will not receive justice and that nothing would now come of the criminal charges.”

Natasha Kara, NPA spokesperson in KZN, said: “The matter was withdrawn in October 2021 due to the death of the complainant, who was to give evidence in regard to all charges faced by the accused. Please note we were advised that the complainant died of natural causes.”

Normah Zondo, the executive director for corporate relations at UKZN, said: “The university is unable to disclose any information relating to its employees and has no comment regarding the criminal matter between the State and Ms Sahadew.”

Sahadew did not respond to messages or comment. Her attorney, Justin Bagwandeen, said: “My client has always maintained the charges were a fabrication. She remained confident throughout that she’d be found innocent of all charges.”