Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda must decide if he wants to be a government minister or a businessman, says Democratic Alliance (DA) communications spokesperson Niekie van den Berg.
The DA, along with fellow opposition parties, the Independent Democrats (ID) and Congress of the People (Cope), reacted strongly to an article in today's Mail & Guardian newspaper. The story detailed Nyanda's 50% ownership in a security company that has been granted millions of rands worth of tenders, allegedly without going through proper processes.
Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security (GNS) Risk Advisory Services, was awarded a R55 million contract by suspended Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nyanda has come out in support of Gama in his ongoing legal battles.
The Mail & Guardian also cited in today's issue the fact that GNS Risk Advisory Services CEO Sylvester Sithole was mentioned in a draft report by Nexus Forensic Services as having “potentially overcharged the SABC, in an instance where a false narrative was attached to an invoice, doubling invoicing and prima facie fraudulent invoices”.
Nyanda's personal actions have attracted interest since his appointment after last year's general elections, especially when he took advantage of his ministerial allowance to buy two top of the range BMW cars for more than R1.2 million each.
A Department of Communications spokesperson told ITWeb this morning that Nyanda's office would not add to its response already delivered to the Mail & Guardian. This stated that the interest had been declared to Parliament and that the minister was not involved in the day-to-day running of the security company.
“We have nothing further to add to the Mail & Guardian story and stand by our original response,” the spokesperson says.
ID spokesperson Lance Greyling says: “The situation is totally untenable. Conflicts of interests arise when ministers have interests in companies that deal directly with the state. It is very difficult for the leadership of the country to say that it is being tough on corruption when the ministers have these interests.”
Cope communications spokesperson Juli Killian says: “It is impossible to stop the looting of state assets by officials, if the politicians do not stop doing it themselves. We have very serious concerns about the minister's involvement with this company. We are preparing a host of parliamentary questions on the issue.”
Van den Berg also says the communications portfolio is a difficult and extensive one.
“The minister needs to concentrate his energies on solving issues such as digital terrestrial TV, the SABC issues and a host of others. He, therefore, cannot allow his attention and time to be diverted through instances such as this and so must make a choice - politician or businessman,” he notes.
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