As a police investigation into alleged misconduct on the part of disgraced former minister of communications Dina Pule is ongoing, the ruling party has yet to clarify why she made its National Assembly candidate list.
Her shocking inclusion on the 200-person strong list - at number 70 - has been labelled a blow to democracy, and there are hopes that Pule will be slotted into a position where she cannot harm any of SA's economic sectors.
Despite the outcry, the African National Congress (ANC) has yet to clarify why she is being given a second chance at being a Member of Parliament, after having been sanctioned by its oversight body last year, and found guilty of misconduct in the Public Protector's December report.
Not guilty
ITWeb has endeavoured, over the course of several days, to get clarity from the party's spokesman, Jackson Mthembu, but to no avail, as he cannot be reached. Mthembu has been quoted by the Mail & Guardian as saying the party is confident its candidate lists can stand up to scrutiny.
"If the IEC [Independent Electorial Commission] were to remove anyone, it will leave us with egg on the face. We cannot face that," he told the paper. "We did verification of whether the people qualify for candidacy. We went through the lists with a [fine-tooth] comb [sic]."
Mthembu told the publication the party would be able to defend its candidates should there be any objections. He was also quoted as saying candidates had not been found guilty by a court of law and were voted in by a majority of ANC branches.
However, Pule is being investigated by the police's elite Hawks unit, after the Democratic Alliance's shadow minister of communications, Marian Shinn, last year asked for an investigation into allegations of corruption involving appointments in the Department of Communications and its entities by Pule and her romantic partner, Phosane Mngqibisa.
ITWeb this morning confirmed with captain Paul Ramaloko that the probe was ongoing and progress had been made in the active case.
False information
Shinn says Pule should never have been nominated for a potential seat in Parliament as she was found guilty by Parliament's Ethics and Members' Interests committee of not declaring the conflict of interest, as Mngqibisa benefited financially from their relationship and the ICT Indaba, held in 2012.
Shinn adds Pule "wilfully gave false evidence to Parliament's ethics committee and provided it with false information, and denied Mngqibisa was her companion".
In August, the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests found the former communications minister guilty of allowing Mngqibisa to benefit financially from his relationship with her.
The committee also ruled that Pule had failed to declare her association with Mngqibisa, which she was obliged to do in terms of Parliament's ethics code. Pule was suspended, reprimanded and fined 30 days' salary in what was the harshest possible sanction.
Shinn says Pule "showed herself to be a person of no integrity and, therefore, should not be entrusted in any form of public service".
Ovum analyst Richard Hurst says Pule's inclusion as a nominee begs questions around the entire process and puts SA's democracy in the spotlight. He notes this would not have been allowed to happen in any other country.
Hurst hopes Pule ends up at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, where she can do no harm to SA's economic sectors. He has the sense that some people will not let the matter rest and allow Pule to return, because this is tantamount to condoning what she has been found guilty of.
However, forensic investigator Bart Henderson writes that no investigation into Pule ever found money stolen or misspent. "In short, Pule is guilty of having an affair."
Henderson argues it is yet to be proven that the relationship between the two was in conflict. "I am not minimising Pule's conduct; I am suggesting that Pule has been the victim of a political hit carried out in a deliberate and sustained attack by the media, as claimed by her."
In addition, says Henderson, the indaba was a "world-class event", a fact about which no one has argued.
Abuse of power
However, the latest probe into Pule, the public protector's 210-page report, found Mngqibisa abused the power he enjoyed because of his relationship with Pule and improperly enriched himself to the tune of R6 million through the indaba. It also adds Pule had a "real" conflict of interest as a result of her relationship with Mngqibisa.
The public protector found Pule's conduct was "improper and in violation of the Executive Ethics Code and brought the eminence of both the executive and Parliament into disrepute". The report recommends that Pule should consider vacating her seat in Parliament to "minimise the damage caused by her undermining this institution".
In addition, the protector found Pule's alleged romantic partner, Mngqibisa, was her official companion, and inappropriately benefited from the department funding his international trip to Mexico, although he has paid back R89 326.35.
"My finding is that Pule was not entirely honest, as she stated that the relationship ended before she became the minister of communications, while evidence relating to trips undertaken as minister of communications confirms a relationship."
The report, entitled Unsolicited Donation, wrapped up an investigation into allegations of maladministration, corruption and a potential conflict of interest made against Pule.
These complaints were filed in relation to appointment of service providers to render event management services for the Department of Communications' 2012 ICT Indaba, and were made by Shinn. By the time the probe was wrapped up, Pule - who had been minister of communications since October 2011 - had already been axed by president Jacob Zuma.
The report also found that while there was no unlawfulness in Carol Bouwer Productions hosting the event, or in Pule's solicitation of sponsorship, Pule's donation of R10 million from the department for the indaba was "unlawful, improper and constitutes maladministration".
Neither Pule nor Mngqibisa could be reached for comment this morning.
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