Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda has given Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi until close of business next week Thursday to apologise for alleging he is corrupt.
Nyanda's lawyers, Edward Nathan Sonnenberg, yesterday sent Vavi a letter, asking him to publicly retract statements made during a 28 May press conference at which Vavi allegedly referred to Nyanda as a “corrupt minister”.
Newspaper reports say Vavi had accused president Jacob Zuma of not taking action against corrupt ministers, specifically mentioning Nyanda and cooperative governance minister Sicelo Shiceka.
Nyanda has been in the spotlight recently after allegations surfaced that he had spent R500 0000 on lavish hotels, has a 50% stake in General Nyanda Security, which has won tenders worth about R123 million, and owns shares worth R80 000 in mobile operator MTN.
Nyanda's good name
Director in Edward Nathan Sonnenberg's litigation department Siyabonga Mahlangu tells ITWeb that Vavi has been given until the end of next Thursday to apologise for damaging Nyanda's good name. If the apology is not forthcoming, or does not meet Nyanda's requirements, further action will be taken, he says.
The letter states: “Our client is an elected representative of the people and a minister in the Cabinet of the Republic of SA. He is also the country's representative in important international information communication and technology fora.”
However, Nyanda's constitutional rights need to be weighed up against Vavi's right to freedom of expression, explains Mahlangu. He adds that Vavi needs to explain why his rights trump those of Nyanda.
No fingers pointed
Patrick Craven, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesman, says the federation stands by its previous comments that the “statement that has caused all this rumpus was a call for the ANC to take the allegations of corruption more seriously”.
Craven says Cosatu was not specifically accusing someone of being corrupt, but was pointing out to the ruling party that there have been allegations of corruption, which must be investigated.
Vavi is also facing disciplinary charges from the ANC's National Working Committee over comments that some ministers had been reported to be corrupt. Nyanda is also a member of the working committee.
A Cosatu statement about the issue notes that what Vavi said was not just his personal view, but contained in an official statement issued by the federation after its recent central executive committee meeting.
The statement read: “The newspapers continue to carry stories of allegations of corruption against ministers and we are still to hear the president or Cabinet announcing that these allegations will be subjected to investigation.
“Perceptions, as a result of this silence or refusal to act, run deep in our communities, that government is soft on corruption, in particular if it is committed by members of the Cabinet and/or senior party leaders or officials,” said Cosatu's statement.
Craven said at the time the threats of charges were made public that “Vavi speaks as the voice of the workers and the poor, fully mandated by the Cosatu membership and will never be silenced by threats of disciplinary charges”.
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