Competition Commission boss Shan Ramburuth spent tens of thousands of rands of taxpayers' money in one month downloading adult content, reports Sunday Times.
In a front-page report today, the newspaper says Ramburuth spent an average of R15 000 an hour on a government SIM card, some of it on hard-core pornography. This is apparently in direct contravention of the Competition Commission's Internet policy.
Details of Ramburuth's pornographic activities are reportedly contained in a forensic report conducted by consultants Paul O'Sullivan and Associates. The report shows that Ramburuth visited 25 adult content sites between August and November 2011, says the Sunday Times. In October that year, Ramburuth allegedly racked up a R123 000 data bill while overseas, using a government-issued SIM card. The single largest data usage is said to have been on October 15, when he spent 291 minutes on adult content Web sites.
The newspaper claims that less than a day after it sent questions to the Department of Economic Development, it was announced that Ramburuth had resigned. However, Ramburuth reportedly said yesterday that he had not resigned and was still in discussions with department minister, Ebrahim Patel.
Sunday Times reports that Patel's DG, Jenny Schreiner, demanded that Ramburuth hand over his government-issued laptop and iPad for further investigations, after which the latter was seized by investigators.
Ramburuth reportedly said yesterday that the R123 000 bill is the result of automatic software upgrades. He did not deny visiting adult content sites. "I don't think I did or didn't watch porn... that is not a dismissible offence. But if people feel that I have embarrassed people, I will deal with that appropriately. This is very embarrassing for me, as it is for my family and people in the Competition Commission."
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