Communications minister Dina Pule has reacted to yesterday's Sunday Times article in which the publication makes a series of new allegations - including that she has ceded control of her portfolio to her so-called boyfriend.
Speaking to ITWeb last night, Pule stated the Sunday Times had "crossed the line" this time, following a "sustained smear campaign" that has been ongoing for the past nine months, and added that she will be taking legal action against the newspaper.
"They are now simply stating these allegations as fact and I've kept quiet long enough," she says, adding that the publication has used, and hid behind, unnamed sources, whose credibility and independence cannot be tested.
Pule says she intends to not only take legal action against the Sunday Times, but also to approach the press ombudsman, as the newspaper has consistently breached the Press Code by "running what is clearly a politically-motivated smear campaign" against her.
The minister suspects the Sunday Times is driving "someone's agenda that is most likely financially- and political-motivated, and which could well include a political play for leadership of the Department of Communications".
She suspects that certain controversial decisions that she has made - such as scrapping of a multimillion-rand deal that would have seen Korea's KT Corporation take a 20% stake in Telkom - could be part of the motivation for the campaign against her.
In June last year, government pulled the plug on the offer from KT that would have seen ailing Telkom issue 20% more shares in return for a R3.3 billion injection, prompting an outcry from various quarters in the industry. At the time, government's U-turn on the proposal led to talk of underhand dealing and government interference in the running of Telkom.
However, Pule says the deal did not make financial sense, because the fixed-line operator's share had slid so much between when the deal was initiated and the time it was to be signed - wiping R1.9 billion off its value.
Furthermore, Pule says it is likely that certain parties also have vested financial and political interests in some of the key processes and decisions that the Department of Communications has yet to take, such as spectrum allocation and set-top box manufacturing for the country's migration to digital TV.
No relationship
Yesterday was also the first time that Pule tackled some of the Sunday Times' allegations head on, emphatically denying any personal relationship exists between her and Phosane Mngqibisa, the man alleged to be at the centre of the ICT Indaba scandal. Up until now, Pule has refused to discuss her personal life publicly, and has instead urged the newspaper to produce evidence of the alleged relationship.
The Sunday Times also reported that Pule is currently fighting for her political career, holding several meetings with president Jacob Zuma. "One ended with the minister leaving the president's office in tears," the newspaper stated.
However, Pule dismisses this, saying she did indeed have two meetings with Zuma last week, but both were about the resignation of the SABC board. The minister says she has never had to fight for her political career and that none of the allegations levelled against her have ever been raised by Zuma.
"The Sunday Times continues to report untruths. If their sources are credible, why don't they come out and challenge me directly?"
The Department of Communications also issued a statement last night, responding to the Sunday Times article, and responding to all of the allegations in the report.
"For the record, the minister remains in charge of the department and is discharging her responsibilities in terms of the Constitution. Minister Pule is not responsible for administrative processes in the department, which is the responsibility of the accounting officer," the statement says.
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