Communications minister Dina Pule is allegedly not in control of the department, but has reportedly ceded control to her alleged boyfriend, the Sunday Times this morning reported.
Citing an internal audit, the paper reported on its front page that Pule's alleged romantic partner, Phosane Mngqibisa, has "got his friends and relatives onto the boards of the Post Office, Sentech, the Universal Services and Access Agency, and the SABC with the full knowledge of Pule".
The paper says this strengthens the case to remove Pule from her job. There have recently been several calls, including from the opposition party, for the minister to be axed over the recent collapse of the SABC board, which led to an interim board being put in place last week.
The Cape Chamber of Commerce has also called for intervention in the department as "recent events surrounding allegations of misconduct within the Department of Communications (DOC) is compounding business' concern about the lack of direction and leadership within the DOC".
"The chamber's ICT members have voiced their concern about the recent media reports surrounding the minister. It is creating a level of uncertainty and impacts the confidence of business in the local ICT sector," Roderick Lim Banda, chairman of the ICT portfolio committee at the chamber, recently said.
The paper says the evidence that Mngqibisa has used his influence to place people into these positions is supported by five independent sources, several of whom serve on the boards in question. It says these sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the paper, Mngqibisa engineered the appointment of SABC group CEO Lulama Makhobo, allegedly a close relative, as well as friend Gugu Duda as CFO. Duda has been suspended and Tian Olivier is in an acting position,
Mngqibisa told the paper that he would not answer questions that were "designed to impinge on my rights to privacy". Duda also reportedly would neither deny nor confirm allegations made by a former confidant and business partner that she had secret meetings with the minister, arranged by Mngqibisa.
Spokesman Siya Qoza says the department views these allegations as part of the continuation of the smear campaign against the minister as the allegations are unsubstantiated. He adds Pule "will continue to focus on delivering on her work without fear of taking decisions when required to".
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