The Democratic Alliance (DA) will send another request to the public protector today to investigate tenders related to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda.
Public protector Thuli Madonsela will now have three separate requests for investigations related to Nyanda. The decision to start an official probe into allegations of conflict of interest against Nyanda will be taken at the end of July, depending on Madonsela's report.
DA deputy shadow minister of communications Lindiwe Mazibuko says she will send the letter to the public protector's office today, requesting an investigation of all state tenders awarded to companies linked to Nyanda.
Centralised power
Niekie van den Berg, DA shadow minister of communications, first highlighted the need for another investigation after newspaper reports alleged Nyanda was going to suspend his director-general Mamodupi Mohala, following her refusal to approve tenders to companies linked to him.
In an article on the DA Web site, he added that this latest incident is just another in a long list of tender scandals that the minister has been embroiled in. He emphasised the need for all tenders involving companies linked to the minister to be investigated so that any irregularities may be uncovered.
“It is at the very least highly-suspicious that the minister seems to want to remove the key obstacle to his handling his department and its finances in its entirety. Why is the minister seeking to revert control of all departmental tenders to himself?
“There can be no justification for all major departmental spending to be centralised in one person. It runs against all the basic tenets of good governance and ideas like accountability, competition and transparency, as listed in the Public Finance Management Act.”
Closing loopholes
Mazibuko adds that the DA specifically wants to know why Nyanda might be interested in getting closer to tender processes.
“The minister is kept out of tendering for a reason. He can't be the player and the referee.”
She says the previous request sent to the public protector by the DA dealt with the transport and electricity portfolios, and this one looks at communications and IT-related tenders.
Apart from the public protector's investigation in terms of the Ethics Act, Mazibuko says there must be legislation put in place that prevents ministers from doing business with the state.
“There should be no loophole that allows ministers to do business with the state that they govern. That's another issue we're going to have to drive.”
“Tenders are there to ensure the public gets best value for its money when it comes to service delivery. If those tenders, however, are used to benefit the individual decision-makers, it is to the public's detriment. And so the public protector needs to intervene on their behalf,” said Van den Berg.
Mazibuko also says the adoption of digital migration standards has not been clear and so the DA will table questions related to the issue. “This is supposed to be a transparent process. So we want more detail on the economic benefit of adopting these standards.”
Strike three
Kgalalelo Masibi, the public protector's spokesperson, explains that the first complaint was about the minister's alleged breach of the Executive Members' Ethics Code by receiving benefits from an allegedly irregular tender from Transnet.
This complaint was laid by Cope's Juli Killian, on 19 March. Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security Risk Advisory Services, was awarded a R55 million contract by now dismissed Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nyanda has come out in support of Gama in his ongoing legal battles.
The second complaint was laid by the DA. “It relates to a tender that was allegedly irregularly issued by the Gauteng Department of Transport to a company linked to minister Nyanda (Abalozi Security Risk Advisory Services) before he became a minister and his continued benefit from the contract now that he is a minister and has a duty to protect government interests,” says Masibi.
One denial
The DOC last week denied allegations that Nyanda was going to suspend Mohala.
However, the department and Nyanda have been silent on all other allegations.
DOC spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso says the minister has no comment to make at this point in the matter.
“For now, these are just mere complaints taken to the public protector and the minister has nothing to say about this because these complaints were not brought to him.”
Share