Three months after his suspension and short of an investigation outcome, SA's former ambassador to Iran, Yusuf Saloojee, is back at his post in Oman.
This is despite an investigation by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) into accusations of bribery against him being incomplete.
Saloojee came under the foreign ministry's microscope in July, after he was accused of accepting $200 000 from cellphone operator MTN in exchange for assisting the company in its acquisition of a GSM licence, in Iran, in 2005. The claim forms part of a bigger lawsuit and financial claim of $4.2 billion, filed by rival bidding operator, Istanbul-based Turkcell.
International relations and cooperation minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said at the time that the department would embark on an investigation into the allegations by Turkcell, backed by former MTN executive Chris Kilowan, against Saloojee. Clayson Monyela, the department's spokesperson, said it was unclear as to how long the investigation would take.
Yesterday, David Maynier, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of defence and military veterans, released a statement calling on Nkoana-Mashabane to "urgently explain" why Saloojee was allowed to return to his post, despite Parliament's confirmation last week that the investigation was "still in progress".
"Ambassador Saloojee is believed to have claimed that his suspension has been lifted and that his name has been cleared." Monyela has confirmed, however, that Saloojee is still under investigation.
Maynier says it is imperative that the question of why Saloojee was allowed to return to his post be answered. "One would think that Ambassador Saloojee would not have been allowed to take up his post as SA's ambassador to Oman if he was being investigated for allegedly taking a $200 000 bribe from the MTN Group."
He says he will submit parliamentary questions to Nkoana-Mashabane to determine what the current state of the investigation is, and why Saloojee has returned to his post amid bribery claims.
"There is something wrong here. The minister must tell us what is going on."
Monyela this morning said a statement on behalf of the department had been drafted and approved and that it "should be up on the DIRCO Web site", but no statement had been posted at the time of publication.
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