The festive season has been cited as the latest delay in the third investigation into former communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda.
Public protector Thuli Madonsela was requested to carry out three investigations into Nyanda's alleged conflict of interest when heading up the communications portfolio.
The third and final set of allegations against Nyanda set off an investigation into all state tenders awarded to companies linked to the former minister, as per request by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The investigation has continued, despite Nyanda's axing from the communication minister's post at the end of October.
Outside help
February has been set as the new deadline for the completion of the investigation, according to communications manager at the public protector's office, Oupa Segalwe.
The public protector's office initially indicated the report would be finalised by October, then pushed it to the end of October and subsequently to the end of November.
The delays were attributed to human resources constraints.
“An investigator was appointed to deal with this matter around November last year. The investigator is not in the employment of the public protector's office but is a consultant that was hired specifically for the investigation.”
“We have been given an indication by the investigator that the investigation will be completed around February. The investigation slowed down due to the festive season. It was extremely difficult for the consultant to get hold of the appropriate people during that time.”
Reaching the top
DA corruption spokesperson Jack Bloom questions the potential consequences of the investigations, since Nyanda was appointed the president's parliamentary counsellor in November, after being found guilty by Madonsela of several earlier allegations against him.
“We weren't told why he was dumped as minister - whether it was for incompetence or conflict of interest - and now he's in the president's office. That's as high as you can get.”
Bloom also expresses frustration at the slow pace of the investigation. “It's a critical issue. Do political connections influence tenders? The implications are very serious. This public protector is, however, much better than the previous one, so we'll wait to see what comes out of the investigation.”
Xhead = Elusive ethics
The first complaint against Nyanda was about the former minister's alleged breach of the executive members' Code of Ethics for receiving benefits from an allegedly irregular tender from Transnet.
Julie Killian, of Cope, laid this complaint on 19 March. Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security Risk Advisory Services, was awarded a R55 million contract by axed Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nyanda came out in support of Gama during his legal battles with the transport utility.
The public protector found that the statement issued to the media by Nyanda, in support of Gama, violated the Code of Ethics, since he was using the influence of his position to do so.
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.
In a report released in August, the public protector found Nyanda had not violated the executive members' Code of Ethics, or the corresponding provisions of the Code of Ethics with the awarding of a contract to Abalozi Security Risk Advisory Services, of which Nyanda is a former director, by the Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works (GDTRW) for security services.
However, the report did find the contract had been awarded “irregularly”, but that no evidence could be found that Nyanda was directly involved in securing the contract. However, by its own admission, the GDTRW did take into consideration his experience in the security sector when awarding the contracts.
Share
