The ongoing issue surrounding communications minister Dina Pule and an alleged conflict of interests around the ICT Indaba in Cape Town last year is now under Parliament's microscope.
About eight months down the line from when allegations surfaced that millions in sponsorship fees were drawn from the account of the indaba's event organiser by a man alleged to be romantically linked to Pule, Parliament is formally probing the issue.
The Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests recently launched a formal investigation into the allegations, which the Department of Communications has denied, saying accusations amount to mudslinging.
Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow communications minister Marian Shinn says the DA chief whip's office recently received a notification from the registrar of the ethics committee that it would proceed with hearings into the allegations of wrongdoing on Pule's part.
Shinn says, since the DA requested in July last year that the committee probe the issue, the registrar has gathered statements from key people involved and, on the basis of the content of the submissions, decided to proceed with hearings.
"I am pleased that the probe into the minister's role in the ICT Indaba and any possible conflicts of interest that arose from the involvement of her romantic partner in this event is now under way, because we need clarity on whether this event was anything other than an opportunity to financially benefit him with sponsors' money.
"Sponsors need to know whether their funds were used for the purpose they intended, and ministers and their departments need to be made aware of what activities constitute conflicts of interest."
Pule's spokesperson, Siyabulela Qoza, says the minister is "cooperating fully with the ethics committee, and will continue to do so".
There is no indication at this stage as to when the hearings will start or how long they will take. Shinn says a statement on the committee's findings may be released on completion of the probe. "Ethics committee proceedings are held in camera, so little information is released about who is called before it and what they say."
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