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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 09 2010 20:54 | LAST UPDATED Feb 09 2010 20:54 |
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Mmanaledi Mataboge and Matuma Letsoalo A confidential dossier obtained by the Mail & Guardian this week reveals the names of 49 senior government employees who allegedly benefited from state contracts worth more than R74-million. In February Auditor General Terrence Nombembe tabled in Parliament his report on the performance of entities in which government employees have interests and which conduct business with the national government -- but this did not include the names of the officials concerned. Nombembe's report found that of the 49 employees 30 did business with their own national departments while 19 worked with other national departments. Only three employees had approval from the departments that employed them to perform remunerative work outside their official duties. The dossier obtained by the M&G was compiled by the auditor general and sent to parliamentary watchdog the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa). It lists the names of all government officials who benefited financially from government -- in some cases their own departments. According to the dossier the wife of former correctional services minister Ngconde Balfour, Tozama Mqobi-Balfour, benefited from business with the Correctional Services Department. Mqobi-Balfour is Gauteng commissioner of correctional services. Business worth more than R1-million was awarded to four companies belonging to correctional services officials. Wawona Investments, of which Mqobi-Balfour is a director, was awarded a R14 000 tender by the prisons department. It was recently revealed that Mqobi- Balfour used taxpayers' money to rent a house for R30 000 a month in the upmarket Woodhill golf estate in Pretoria, despite having the use of a government-funded house. Mqobi-Balfour's conduct and that of her three colleagues is "a contravention of the Correctional Services Act, 1998", Nombembe's report to Parliament said.  CONTINUES BELOW The Act prohibits employees of the department from conducting any business or having an interest in any business contract or agreement with their employer. Another senior government official who allegedly raked in millions from her own department is Cynthia Mpati, former director of the Education Department's school nutrition programme. The dossier says Mpati has interests in Afribooks, which was paid R30,3-million by the Education Department. Afribooks is the biggest national distributor of textbooks and stationery to schools in all nine provinces. The Department of Education said it was not ready to respond to media inquiries before it presented its case to Scopa. Employees who allegedly received business from other government departments include Khibi Mabuse-Manana, a chief director for public transport strategy and monitoring at the Department of Transport. She was involved in GM Architects and Project Managers, a company that charged the department of public works R439 000. Efforts to get a response from Mabuse-Manana through her departmental spokesperson Sam Monareng were unsuccessful. Four companies in which Thozamile Botha, a Cope MP who until last year was an adviser to former housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu, had interests that raked in R17-million. The four -- Advocate Solutions, Ikwezi Information Technologies, New African Engineering Services and the Independent Computer Support Services -- provided services for the departments of education, land affairs and public works. Botha said he was employed as a "part-time adviser" to Sisulu while continuing with his business activities. "As a citizen of the republic of South Africa I enjoyed the rights to tender and be awarded if my company qualified," said Botha. "It is misleading to suggest that I did business with government while [I was] a civil servant." A public relations company, Meropa Communications, in which South Africa's ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman in the United Arab Emirates, Yacoob Abba Omar, has an 8% stake, was paid about R21-million by the department of health for the Khomanani HIV/Aids campaign. The chief executive of Meropa Communications, Peter Mann, said neither Abba Omar nor Meropa Communications had done anything illegal or unethical. Abba Omar had consulted with the department that employs him -- then foreign affairs -- about his involvement in the company. "They, on behalf of the government, agreed that Abba Omar continue as a shareholder and director of Meropa Communications," said Mann. He said the Meropa consortium first won the Khomanani campaign tender in 2001, a year before Abba Omar joined the company. "Since he left this company to be an ambassador he has not been paid a single cent," said Mann. For the first time, nine directors general have been summoned to appear before Scopa to answer questions about their employees' business dealings with government departments. "Beyond the Scopa hearing, we would want to ensure that there are sufficient measures to prevent these things from happening again," said Scopa chairperson Themba Godi. He said there was merit in the suggestion that government employees should be banned from participating in businesses. Godi said Scopa decided to demand answers from departments as it believed "this issue is at the heart of lack of service delivery and poor quality of services rendered by civil servants". Government officials who also have business interests spend time focusing on their businesses at the expense of service delivery, said Godi. TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
Comments
sunkeranundhan v pillay on August 7, 2009, 8:41 am
Forget about "sufficient measures to prevent these things from happening again," said Scopa chairperson Themba Godi."
Nail them all, make a very public example of them, send them to prison so that people in this country can see that corruption will be dealt with severely. I guess I am dreaming since the ANC decides....
Alan Watkins on August 7, 2009, 10:38 am
Name and shame corrupt politicians!
Then confiscate all their assets! THEN kick them out of the country!
Sinudeity @gmail.com on August 7, 2009, 10:59 am
If "the law is an ass" (as the saying goes - not being disrespectful!) then the people implementing and interpreting these laws are ....? Anyway, is it not time that bipartisan (or apolitical) spaces are created where people who take from the nation without observing the laws are shamed and have to resign. It will save us all so much trouble. I do not know why black and white, in the country, cannot demand this - we pay taxes and if you are caught with your pants down, and don't wear underwear then get off the stage. The simple thing to do is to get people to resign and for people to insist on it because the law... well it is an ...
bashar teg on August 7, 2009, 3:59 pm
I respectfully suggest that all of you, the contributors, send your comments to President Jacob Zuma on his DIRECT LINE. As you know, President Zuma has invited us South Africans to contact him directly on his open telephone line with our problems - he obviously cares, AND he wants us to keep him informed because his advisors, ministers etc. are "too busy doing their work in ruling South Africa"
Herman on August 7, 2009, 6:31 pm
try phoning
Skhokho 2010 on August 8, 2009, 3:35 pm
saw part of this on TV, it was pityful to watch, the real surprise was that the issues were raised at all. Travelgate is still very clear in memory, don't have any hope of anything changing.
Yvonne Rowe on August 8, 2009, 11:03 pm
The more things change, the more they stay the same. ANC = Absolute corruption.
Ahed Johb on August 9, 2009, 2:58 pm
And show goes on and and on and on.
daniel koen on August 9, 2009, 4:50 pm
click here to log in
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This government is ineffective to rein in its ministers and get them to hand over all business interests acquired through corrupt means and serve the ministry only.Do not talk about clean management when so much corruption is taking place.Actually no minister should be owing any business interests and have anything fronted on their behalf. At the moment we are like the rest of Africa with corruption bribery and fraud as our most dearly loved pastimes.I cannot fathom the governments inability to act against its ministers for corrupt practices.Government needs to be cleaned up first before giving its citizens advice.