In a statement released by Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow minister of communications, Marian Shinn, today, the official opposition says it has received confirmation that its complaint against former communications minister Dina Pule is being investigated.
The official opposition says it received written confirmation from the director of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat, that the crime unit is "indeed" investigating allegations of corruption against Pule.
The letter confirms that the case is being transferred to the Serious economic offences unit in Pretoria for investigation.
The confirmation follows several requests from the DA for clarity on the investigation of Pule, her alleged boyfriend at the time, Phosane Mngqibisa, and executives from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), CFO Gugu Duda and group CEO Lulama Mokhobo.
Allegations
The investigation was based on an affidavit submitted by the DA to the South African Police Services (SAPS) in April 2013. Shinn has said the police investigation is "based on the affidavit I submitted to the SAPS on 10 April 2013 based on a Sunday Times story on 24 March 2013".
The paper alleged:
o "...evidence of an internal audit showing that Mngqibisa engineered getting friends and relatives on the boards of the Post Office, Sentech, the Universal Service and Access Agency (USAASA) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) with the full knowledge of [Dina] Pule",
o "Mngqibisa engineered getting friends and family appointed onto the boards of the Post Office, Sentech, USAASA and the SABC",
o "Mngqibisa engineered the appointment of his close relative, Lulama Makhobo, to the post of SABC CEO as well as one of his close friends, Gugu Duda, as chief financial officer",
o The appointment of Gugu Duda was a 'done deal': Nomakhaya Malebane alleged that "by now the discussions are finalised and considered a 'done deal' with DP [Dina Pule] having met GD [Gugu Duda] and confirmed to her that she is her choice and that all that needs to happen is to endorse this through formal board interviews",
o In the report, Dina Pule claimed that she only became involved in the appointments "after the SABC board had completed the search and interviews for suitable candidates".
The official opposition's decision to lay charges was based on Section 34(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004, which stipulates that any person who holds a position of authority and who knows or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that any other person has committed an offence has a duty to report it.
The core information, that forms the DA's case, comes from the Sunday Times which used five independent sources - one of them a legal company - for its information.
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