A dispute has erupted between the Hawks investigating officer and South African Roadies Association (SARA) president Freddy Nyathela over the appointment of the prosecutor assigned to guide the investigation into a fraud case he opened against Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka.
Nyathela has raised concerns about the allocation of the case to Advocate Aiden AD Maharaj, who has been assigned to guide Lieutenant-Colonel Mashala in the investigation into the case recently opened against Gcaleka.
Nyathela cited Maharaj’s involvement in a previous case, in which he allegedly declined to institute a prosecution against the person he had opened a case against without providing cogent reasons.
The dispute is contained in Mashala and Nyathela ‘s series of email exchanges which were leaked to Africa Daily.
In the emails, Nyathela asks about the fraud case he opened against the Public Protector at the Johannesburg Central Police Station in which he alleges that Gcaleka deliberately misrepresented the findings of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) in a report issued on July 2, 2026.
Nyathela alleges that Gcaleka intentionally misrepresented the AGSA’s findings to unlawfully deprive SARA of access to public funding and undermine its flagship project, Backstage Academy South Africa.
On August 31, Mashala replied to Nyathela, informing him that the matter had been allocated to Maharaj and that he was awaiting his response regarding a case-plan meeting.
Nyathela subsequently asked whether the prosecutor was Maharaj, saying he was concerned about his involvement in the case.
Mashala confirmed on September 7 that Maharaj was the prosecutor assigned to the matter.
“Adv Maharaj has already started looking at the matter and I do not see any reason for changing him as a prosecutor,” Mashala wrote.
He added that there was nothing Nyathela had alleged about Maharaj that warranted the NPA changing the prosecutor.
Mashala further informed Nyathela that he had received the docket back from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) “with instructions”.
Mashala said feedback would be provided on the progress of the investigation.
Nyathela subsequently asked for clarity on what the “instructions” meant and whether there was a timeframe for feedback on the progress of the case.
The correspondence does not disclose the contents of the NPA’s instructions or indicate whether a decision has been made to prosecute anyone.
Nyathela, however, objected to Maharaj’s appointment, pointing to a previous Johannesburg Central case which he said Maharaj had handled.
According to Nyathela, Maharaj declined to institute a prosecution in that matter in September 2021, citing nolle prosequi, without providing reasons to the complainant.
Nyathela said he subsequently made representations against Maharaj’s decision, but was unsuccessful.
He further said representations were made to former Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions Rodney de Kock and National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi, claiming that two questions raised in those representations had not been answered.
Nyathela has urged the Hawks and NPA to investigate the matter without “fear, favour or prejudice”.
Speaking to Africa Daily, Nyathela confirmed that he had written an email objecting to Maharaj’s involvement in the case.
“Our previous experience with him is not nice. We are still awaiting feedback about the concerns we have raised about this case that involves the Public Protector,” Nyathela said.
Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale had not responded to written questions at the time of publication.
