THE EFF has filed a criminal complaint against Dean Macpherson, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.

The EFF is accusing Macpherson of contacting a junior employee of the Independent Development Trust (IDT) via email to get a report on the payment delays to Lonerock Construction.

He allegedly avoided the IDT's board and executive leadership.

This direct intervention blurred the lines of authority and undermined the IDT's established governance structures, the party said.

The case was opened at the Pretoria Central police station on Wednesday.

But Macpherson denied the allegations and his party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has also defended him, saying this was just a “smear campaign".

Lonerock is a company that was appointed by the IDT to rehabilitate sinkholes at Waterkloof Airforce Base as part of a project managed on behalf of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

Speaking to the media outside the police station, EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini said they have enough evidence to support their case.

One of the pieces of evidence is an email that the EFF is using as proof against Macpherson that purports to show that he instructed IDT employees to help a contractor get funds.

“There’s enough evidence to show that his only interest is to say this company must be paid. Even when the staff members, when they respond, they say we can’t facilitate that,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini said his party would report the matter in Parliament as well as share Macpherson’s email where he questioned why the funds had not been paid to the contractor.

“We must demonstrate to South Africans that we are not just going around. We have an email from the minister, and we will release it.

“If he wants to deny it, he can deny,” he said.

This comes as Macpherson is also investigating a R800 million scandal involving an oxygen tender that was seemingly awarded irregularly by the IDT.

The DA hailed Macpherson for his committed work on rooting out corruption within the department.

“Macpherson is doing the right thing by unearthing and investigating serious corruption, and by stopping the IDT deal. It is a new culture of corruption-busting, which is what the DA proudly brings to government when we come into office.

“Getting in the way of irregular dealings to the value of R800 million will naturally make targets of those cleaning up, but we won't be deterred at all,” the DA said.