ADVOCATE Thulani Makhubela, one of the three commissioners in the Usindiso Building Inquiry, has been recused.
The ruling was handed down on Wednesday, 20 December by the retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe, the chairwoman of the inquiry.
This after Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri) applied to have Makhubela recused from the commission following pro-Operation Dudula and anti-foreigner tweets were spotted on Makhubela's X, previously known as Twitter, dating back to 2017 to 2022.
These tweets, which were seen to be "xenophobic slurs", are what led legal representatives of the Marshalltown fire victims some of whom are undocumented to believe that Makhubela could be bias in the commission.
One tweet by Makhubela from June 2022 that Daily Sun saw read, "#PutSouthAfricaFirst #Zimbabweans @PresidencyZA @HomeAffairsSA this is an opportunity to put the rule of law first. South Africans are unemployed because of illegal foreigners. Minister Motsoaledi is the first to ever attempt to deal with this matter".
This tweet was coupled by many more wherein Makhubela expressed his strong stance against foreign nationals.
Seemingly Khampepe was not in dispute and therefore ruled that commissioner Makhubela be recused as the commissioner of the commission of inquiry.
Her ruling comes as she took into account affidavits by the victims that proved Operation Dudula, which Makhubela was in support of tormented victims of the shelter burnt down before and after it was gutted by a fire and some of his tweets dating back to 2017.
"It is noteworthy that commissioner Makhubela for the past six years on social media expressed a firm view conveying enmity and antipathy towards foreign nations in general and their undesirability in the city and the country.
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"His support for Operation Dudula [sparking] xenophobic rhetoric [shows] indeed that commissioner Makhubela holds a firm view that foreign nations are responsible for societal ills besetting the country including rampant crime and unemployment," Khampepe said.
In this regards she said there is a real apprehension that commissioner Makhubela would be unable to be impartial to issues where they pertain to foreign nationals due to his publicly expressed views about Operation Dudula and it's xenophobic course.
"On this core I am therefore satisfied that commissioner Makhubela will not bring an impartial mind to bare on the work of the commission and that is a mind open to persuasion by evidence and submission of council."
During the inquiry a month ago in November, affidavits by victims of the fire revealed how members of Operation Dudula tormented victims of the shelter burnt down before and after it was gutted by a fire.
One victim, Thembinkosi Sithole, a South African, relayed in his affidavit how the members of Operation Dudula marched around the building singing the same song while he was mourning the death of the victims.
In other instances, before the tragic fire in May 2023, members of Operation Dudula conducted illegal raids in their homes searching for drugs and threatened them.
It was through these affidavits that the legal representatives led in support to have Makhubela recused from the commission of inquiry into the Marshalltown fire, as his views on the inquiry could be biased.
