Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will soon wrap up a probe into the contested R500-million lease of a Pretoria building by the South African Police Service (SAPS). The high-value deal, which involved the SAPS, the department of public works and a businessman linked to President Jacob Zuma, has been described as “shady” and “dodgy” in months gone by as it did not follow normal tender processes.
Madonsela received an 11th-hour response to inquiries into the deal from police National Commissioner Bheki Cele on Sunday. Responses from the Treasury — whose regulations were contravened — the department of public works, and complainant Paul Hoffman from the South African Institute for Accountability were received earlier this year.
If the Public Protector finds any evidence of improper conduct in concluding the contract, she could recommend that the agreement be rescinded, that an application for a condonation be submitted to Treasury or that the individuals who acted improperly be prosecuted or held accountable through disciplinary processes. At this point it is unclear whether any evidence of wrongdoing has been found or, if so, what sort of action would be taken. However, the report is rumoured to be critical of Cele and the SAPS’s handling of the matter.
Oupa Segalwe, a spokesperson for the Public Protector, told the M&G that the Treasury had been asked to comment on the provisional report with a view to establishing its likely approach in the event that the lease agreement was found to be irregular.
“Should the final report still contain adverse findings, the organs of state implicated in the investigation, being the department of public works and the South African Police, may be required to take action. Treasury could also be asked to take action,” he said.
In addition, said Segalwe, if the facts in the report disclose the commission of an offence by any person, the matter would be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority.
Last year Madonsela complained that some organs of state did not take the office of the Public Protector seriously. According to Segalwe, there have been two instances where a state body challenged aspects of a Public Protector report. But, he said, “the Public Protector’s compliance mechanism follows up to ensure implementation”, adding “the last resort is a naming and shaming report to Parliament”.
Timeline of a tender scandal
Six months after the Sunday Times broke the news about the irregular processes behind the lease agreement concluded with property tycoon Roux Shabangu, the saga is still unfolding. The M&G rounds up the twists and turns in the under-the-table deal that has ended careers.
August 1 2010
Sunday Times reporters Mzilikazi wa Afrika and Stephan Hofstatter expose the R500-million deal to lease the 18-storey Middestad Sanlam Centre in Pretoria for 10 years from Roux Shabangu. The deal was not put out to tender even though Treasury regulations state that all deals worth R500-million or more must be put through competitive tender processes. Police National Commissioner Bheki Cele is said to have spearheaded the deal.
August 2 2010
The Freedom Front Plus asks Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to investigate the matter. Paul Hoffman, director of the South African Institute of Accountability, follows suit. An investigation into the deal is launched a few days later.
August 4 2010
Amid talk of a media appeals tribunal, which would seek to regulate how the media reports the news, Wa Afrika — one of the reporters who broke the story — is dramatically arrested at the Sunday Times offices and spirited away to an undisclosed location.
Wa Afrika, who had received a forged letter via fax, is later charged with “fraud, forgery and uttering” following a complaint by Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza.
August 9 2010
Opposition parties say they will ask Parliament’s police oversight committee to quiz Cele over possible political motives behind Wa Afrika’s arrest. The charges against Wa Afrika are later dropped.
August 11 2010
President Jacob Zuma orders the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate corruption in the SAPS going back five years. This comes shortly after he ordered the SIU to investigate contracts approved by the department of public works. The investigation is run in parallel with one run by the office of the Public Protector.
August 16 2010
After obtaining legal advice on the matter, former public works minister Geoff Doidge announces that the lease agreement will be put on hold until the Public Protector and the SIU complete their investigations.
September 3 2010
After being called on to report to the parliamentary portfolio committee on policing, Cele denies that he knows Shabangu and says that he signed a needs assessment, not a contract. He also tells MPs that three of his generals — Stefanus Terblanche, Matthews Siwundla and Hamilton Hlela — resigned suddenly after he asked the SIU to probe suspicious activity in the supply chain unit.
September 5 2010
One of the now-retired generals, Terblanche, says that Cele lied during his presentation to Parliament. Terblanche maintains that Cele spearheaded the move to relocate the headquarters. Terblanche and Hlela denied that they resigned, and claimed instead that they were offered early retirement and golden handshakes.
September 7 2010
Cele denies lying to Parliament and insists that “only Parliament can make a finding that it has been misled or not”.
But that same day, parliamentary portfolio committee chairperson Sindi Chikunga told the South African Broadcasting Corporation that there would be no investigation into allegations that Cele lied about the generals’ resignations.
October 31 2010
President Zuma reshuffles his Cabinet, reassigning some ministers and firing others. Doidge is among the ministers who lose their jobs. He is replaced by Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.
Some speculate that Doidge’s removal may have had something to do with the SAPS lease issue. Shabangu is said to be linked to Zuma.
November 19 2010
Zuma deflects questions from opposition parties on his reasons for firing effective ministers such as Barbara Hogan and Geoff Doidge.
November 24 2010
Madonsela, tells the National Press Club that some organs of state still disregard the Public Protector’s processes but that her office would not hesitate to use its full powers to exact compliance with the law.
December 7 2010
Mahlangu-Nkabinde, the new public works minister, announces that, after taking advice from state attorneys, the department has decided to honour the lease agreement signed with Shabangu. Contrary to earlier reports that Cele had signed the lease, Mahlangu-Nkabinde says the lease agreement was signed by public works director general Siviwe Dongwana. Dongwana was suspended shortly after Doidge was removed from office.
December 16 2010
The Public Protector sends a draft report on the probe to Cele, Hoffman, the Treasury, and the ministers and accounting officers of the police and public works departments. The parties are given until January 3 to comment on the report.
December 23 2010
At some point before Christmas, the Public Protector extends the SAPS deadline for submissions to January 23 2011. National Treasury, which is not under investigation but which had been asked to comment, is given until January 21 to do so.
January 3 2011
The department of public works submits its response to the Public Protector, albeit a few hours late.
January 16 2011
City Press reports that Cele is considering interdicting Madonsela in order to prevent the release of the Public Protector’s report on the probe into the matter. The paper also claims that Cele’s legal adviser and lawyers interrogated staff who had been interviewed by the Public Protector.
January 17 2011
Madonsela said she has not been served with interdict papers.
January 22 2011
The Sunday Times quotes sources close to the Public Protector’s investigation as saying that its findings are “very harsh” on Cele and the SAPS’s role in the matter and that the police’s top brass have been scrambling for legal advice on how to counter the findings. The reporters say they have seen a paper trail that confirms Cele played a key role in relocating police headquarters to buildings owned by Shabangu.
January 24 2011
The office of the Public Protector confirms that it has received submissions from all the parties involved in the investigation and reiterates that it will release its final report on the matter in early February.