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Pule guilty of misconduct

Martin Czernowalow
By Martin Czernowalow, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 07 Aug 2013
Dina Pule was found guilty of wilfully misleading the ethics committee while giving evidence.
Dina Pule was found guilty of wilfully misleading the ethics committee while giving evidence.

Axed communications minister Dina Pule has been hit the maximum penalties allowed by the Joint Rules of Parliament, as recommended by Parliament's ethics oversight body, for abusing her power.

On Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members Interests found the former minister guilty of allowing her romantic partner, Phosane 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.

The ruling further determined that Mngqibisa was indeed Pule's "de facto permanent companion/spouse" - a relationship was previously sternly denied by both Pule and Mngqibisa.

Pule was also found guilty of wilfully misleading the ethics committee panel and that she "failed to observe the requirements of the Code of Conduct, both in the letter and spirit of the code".

A joint statement by the co-chairpersons of the ethics committee Prof Ben Turok and B L Mashile, MP, notes that the highest penalty in terms of Parliamentary regulations have been recommended against Pule. This includes "a reprimand in the National Assembly, a fine equivalent to 30 days' salary, and a suspension of privileges for 15 days and exclusion from any Parliamentary debates and committees for this period".

Pule is also required to amend her disclosure retrospectively to ensure that her interests are fully declared.

Material benefit

In terms of its findings that Mngqibisa improperly benefited from his relationship with Pule, the committee determined that his association with the former minister allowed him to obtain government funding for overseas trips and participate in official meetings, despite not holding any formal departmental role.

The ruling also holds that Mngqibisa was able to obtain material benefit for himself and his company, Khemano, which had been hired to stage the inaugural ICT Indaba, in Cape Town, in June last year, through his relationship with Pule.

However, the committee was unable to make a finding regarding Pule's failure to disclose the controversial pair of Christian Louboutin shoes - allegedly bought for her by Mngqibisa - due to a lack of corroborating evidence.

DOC under fire

The Department of Communications (DOC) also came under the committee's whip, with the ethics watchdog stating that severalDOCofficials may have committed perjury in giving evidence and colluded with Pule to mislead the panel.

The committee's report will now be tabled before the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, committee member and Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow minister of police Dianne Kohler Barnard said after the ruling that the "matter has now been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Police Service (SAPS) for further investigation.

"We rejected her evidence as untrustworthy and determined that she be issued with a reprimand, fined 30 days' salary, and be suspended from Parliament for 15 days," says Kohler Barnard.

Pule was fired from her ministerial post last month, being one of three high-profile casualties of president Jacob Zuma's most recent Cabinet reshuffle. However, earlier on Wednesday, Parliament confirmed that she had been appointed to the Portfolio Committee on Transport.

The ethics committee ruling does not spell the end of Pule's woes, as she still faces the outcomes of two other investigations into her conduct - one by the SAPS, stemming from an earlier charge laid by the DA, as well as a probe by public protector Thuli Madonsela. Madonsela is expected to release her findings within the next two months.

Pule could not be reached on Wednesday evening, while Mngqibisa declined to comment at this stage.

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