Nyanda under investigation

The decision to start an official probe into allegations of conflict of interest against communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda will be taken at the end of July. Public protector Thuli Madonsela is currently compiling reports based on her investigations into the complaints received against the minister, according to her spokesperson, Kgalalelo Masibi. Masibi says the reports will be ready at the end of the month and the findings will guide the public protector in deciding whether an official probe is necessary.

Masibi explains that the first complaint was about the minister's alleged breach of the Executive Members Ethics Code by receiving benefits from an allegedly irregular tender from Transnet. Julie Killian, of COPE, laid this complaint on 19 March. Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security (GNS) Risk Advisory Services, was awarded a R55 million contract by the now-dismissed Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nyanda has come out in support of Gama in his ongoing legal battles.

The second complaint was laid by the Democratic Alliance (DA). “It relates to a tender that was allegedly irregularly issued by the Gauteng Department of Transport to a company linked to Minister Nyanda (Abalozi Security Risk Advisory Services), before he became a minister, and his continued benefit from the contract now that he is a minister and has a duty to protect government interests,” says Masibi. The DA has also asked that the Public Protector investigate any other tenders that may have been irregularly issued to the company in question, she adds. DA Gauteng member of the Provincial Legislature Jack Bloom says the main issue is to discover why the contracts were awarded without tender and then not reviewed. “I think there should be a probe separate from the Ethics Act investigation and it could be done in co-operation with the director-general or the Special Investigations Unit or Hawks, whichever is the relevant body.”

National spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Patrick Craven, says the union welcomes an investigation. “It's important in all these cases where the media has been publishing allegations. We're not in any way saying we agree that the people involved are guilty, but it's important because if they are guilty, then the matter can be dealt with, and if they're not, then they can be exonerated.”

Bloom says if the conclusion is that there was irregular lobbying for the tenders on behalf of the minister, and he is benefiting from them, then he could possibly be charged and there could be investigations into him as a sitting Cabinet minister.

Nyanda has previously not responded to requests for comment over the deal, which landed Gama in hot water. Department of Communications spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso says the minister has no comment to make at this point in the matter. “For now these are just mere complaints taken to the Public Protector and the minister has nothing to say about this, because these complaints were not brought to him.”

Source: IT Web