Zuma under fire over Oilgate scandal

President Jacob Zuma was again accused by the opposition on Wednesday of covering up the involvement of senior ANC officials in a scandal that saw companies pay bribes to the regime of Saddam Hussein to secure contracts under the United Nations Food-for-Oil Programme. Zuma said in reply to a parliamentary question that he would not extend the lifespan of the Donen Commission, which probed the role of South African companies in the so-called Oilgate scandal, nor would he release its findings.

He said local companies which allegedly paid illicit surcharges to the Iraqi regime could not be prosecuted under South African law, and therefore the final recommendations of the commission "will be academic because no individual or companies will be held criminally liable". "I have been advised that in terms of our domestic law these nationals cannot be prosecuted."

The Donen Commission's report was handed to then president Thabo Mbeki four years ago and detailed the alleged knowledge senior officials had of shady oil deals with Iraq. The Sunday Times reported last year that the commission had fingered Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale. It said the commission found that Motlanthe, who was ANC secretary general at the time, was privy to "material information" relating to businessman Sandi Majali's deals with the former Iraqi regime. The newspaper reported that the commission also cast doubt on a submission by Sexwale that he did not know that Imvume Management, of which he was co-director, had paid money to the Iraqi government.

Zuma said that instead of extending the probe, he would ask the justice minister and the South African Law Reform Commission to review the Donen Commission's report, along with the international Independent Inquiry Committee that probed the abuse of the programme, and consider changing the law. He said that before he considered releasing the findings of the commission, "the adverse findings made against certain subjects" should be presented to them first to allow them to comment.

In 2005, the Independent Inquiry Committee found that Iraq received $1.8 billion in illicit surcharges and kickbacks and that the UN had failed to properly oversee the programme. More than 200 companies were involved in these illicit payments, severely undermining the aims of the programme, which allowed Iraq to sell oil in order to buy food and medicines for its citizens. The Donen Commission was then tasked with probing the truth of UN allegations against Imvume and a number of companies including Glaxo Wellcome SA, Montega Trading and Omni Oil.

The probe was also referred to Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana after it was alleged that PetroSA, through Imvume Management, funnelled R11 million of public money to the ANC before the 2004 election. Mushwana said the transaction was between the ANC and Imvume - which were private entities.

Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said Zuma's reasons for not releasing the report were "spurious". "The alleged involvement of top ANC officials... means that the truth about yet another instance of power abuse and gross misconduct by the ANC government will, in all likelihood, be hidden indefinitely from public scrutiny."

Trollip said the commission had been set up in the public interest, but by refusing to release its findings "the president has deemed the interests of those implicated in the report to be more important than the interests of the public. "This is absurd. It seems to have evaded the president, and more worryingly the state legal advisors he consulted, in constructing this reply, that a commission of investigation and a criminal investigation are two completely separate forms of inquiry. That the commission will lead to no criminal charges against subjects found to be guilty of misconduct, bears no relevance to whether the commission should be allowed to conduct an investigation."

Source: IoL

Cosatu welcomes Public Protector finding on Moosa

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Friday expressed concern after the Public Protector found that former Eskom chairperson Valli Moosa acted improperly when the utility awarded a contract for the Medupi power station to the Hitachi consortium.

Former Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana found that Moosa failed to manage a conflict of interest arising from the 25% stake of African National Congress (ANC) investment company Chancellor House in Hitachi Power Africa. This stake means that the ruling party stands to make up to R5,8-billion out of the contract. "Cosatu welcomes the report and congratulates Comrade Lawrence Mushwana for exposing the fact that the ANC stood to benefit by up to R5,8-billion," it said.

Mushwana found that Moosa, a member of the ANC's national executive committee, failed to declare the conflict of interest and failed to recuse himself from the board's deliberations. These failings could have resulted "in the reasonable perception that Mr Moosa was biased in respect of the ... award", Mushwana said in his report tabled in Parliament on Thursday. He recommended that Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan consider introducing legislation to regulate the way business is conducted between government entities and political parties.

Cosatu backed his call and said his finding was so disturbing that Eskom's 25% tariff increases over the next three years should be reviewed. "There is now a serious question mark against whether there were vested interests involved in supporting the increases." Mushwana said Moosa's improper conduct did not affect the validity of the deal, which has been criticised by the political opposition.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Not much can be done about arms deal — Protector

The newly appointed Public Protector says there is not much she can do about the controversial arms deal. "Going back to the arms deal, I don't know how much I could possibly contribute," Thuli Madonsela told reporters at the National Press Club in Pretoria on Thursday.

"I could contribute to what should have happened, but at what cost?"

Madonsela, who took over the post from advocate Lawrence Mushwana two weeks ago, was being questioned on Mushwana's handling of the matter.

She said the protector's office had a prescription period of two years, which made it difficult to probe old elements of the deal.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't investigate the arms deal, but I think from our side we would like to go forward and investigate the new things coming to us.

"If it is a new area in the arms deal that hasn't been prescribed then we would do that."

Madonsela said the protector's job was to make sure the state was held accountable. But more importantly it was to "ensure that whatever has been taken away through the improper conduct by the State is restored".

A "pre-investigation" into hotel stays by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa was underway. "This is still a pre-investigation. We don't have a case regarding the minister."

The preliminary probe would look into whether Mthethwa's conduct was in line with rules in the executive handbook. "We have to at least see whether what happened can be turned into a fully fledged investigation."

The process had to be finalised within a month.

Perceptions her office was a "lapdog" would be tackled through talking to political parties and the general public, she said "Tell us yourselves, what do you want us to do, why do you think we are a lapdog... what are your expectations from this department?

We are governed by the rule of law, whatever we do we have to make sure that we hold people accountable. We only find fault in people if what they did was unlawful, unjust or unreasonable... we want people to work with us... if we paint everyone with the same brush, if we make every high profile South African corrupt and criminal, the real criminals will have joy because there will be no stigma."

Madonsela said in her brief time in her position she had found the top five complaints received by the office were about local government, home affairs, grants, the government pension fund, the unemployment insurance fund and workers' compensation.

The office had also received many complaints about police conduct, which she would refer to the Independent Complaints Directorate as it was better positioned to deal with them.

Her office would meet leaders in various government departments to discuss the complaints she had received about them. She said the government's response and readiness to co-operate with her office was a mixed bag, with some co-operating speedily and others dragging their feet.

Madonsela justified the "golden handshake" of R7-million received by Mushwana, saying it was provided for in a 2002 Government Gazette.

Mushwana was appointed chairman of the SA Human Rights Commission, taking the helm of the Chapter 9 institution from Jodi Kollapen.

Source: Polity

Zuma and Ngcuka in the spotlight once more

Another Hefer-style public hearing is near-inevitable as Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana pushes ahead with his investigation into Deputy President Jacob Zuma's allegation that Scorpions boss Bulelani Ngcuka abused his powers.

Just days after retired Judge Joos Hefer dismissed charges by Zuma's camp that Ngcuka had been a spy for the apartheid government, the Scorpions boss is facing an investigation that is likely to echo the dramatic scenes played out at Bloemfontein's Justice Building during the spy probe. Judge Hefer found that there was no substance to the spy allegation made against Ngcuka by two of Zuma's most trusted comrades, Mac Maharaj and Mo Shaik. The judge did not investigate their allegation that Ngcuka had abused his powers because this was not included in the terms of reference President Thabo Mbeki set for the commission.

Now, on the eve of the country's third democratic general elections, the ANC will be bracing itself for another bruising showdown between Zuma, the party's deputy president, and Ngcuka, one of the party's more senior heavyweights. In an interview with the Cape Times, Mushwana said he would meet Ngcuka this week to discuss Zuma's complaint that the Scorpions boss abused his office at the helm of the elite crime-busting unit as it investigated possible allegations of corruption against him. Now that Judge Hefer had made his findings public, Mushwana was pursuing the case and had studied documents relating to Zuma's complaint to the Public Protector. Although he was not keen on public hearings, which he described as the "agonising feature of the Hefer commission", Mushwana conceded that it would be difficult to hold oral hearings in private. Asked about the likelihood of a public hearing, he said: "We'll have to see. For a start, it's likely to be public. It will take a lot of effort to convince anyone that you can deal with a person of the stature of the deputy president behind closed doors. I don't wish it to go that way, but if it comes to that, then we definitely will have to do that."

Mushwana said his decision about holding oral hearings would depend on Ngcuka's written response to the allegation, but the chances of his investigation being based purely on affidavits were slim, given that he would "not be able to interrogate issues". According to Mushwana, Zuma's complaint was based largely on a statement Ngcuka made at a press conference on August 23 last year. Ngcuka said there was a prima facie case of corruption against Zuma, but that he would not prosecute as the case would not be "winnable" in court. "The deputy president is seriously challenging the use of that phrase. He is saying 'if there is such a case, then prosecute me, otherwise you must be prepared to withdraw the statement'," Mushwana said. Another of Zuma's reasons for his complaint was the alleged leaks by the Scorpions to the media about details of their investigation into his affairs. Third, Zuma was "seriously challenging the basis of the investigations" into his affairs. According to the Scorpions, Zuma was linked to an alleged attempt to solicit a payment of R500 000 a year from French company Thomson-CSF, which won a contract in the arms deal, in exchange for "protection" during the investigation into the deal.

Mushwana said Zuma was arguing that the probe into the arms deal by Mushwana's predecessor, Selby Baqwa, Ngcuka and Auditor-General Shauket Fakie had given no indication that the deputy president should be investigated. "(Zuma) said the conclusion of that investigation was that certain institutions were listed as warranting further investigation. He says he is not one of those institutions listed for further investigation and so now he doesn't... understand what it is that the Scorpions are investigating."

Mushwana said his office would sending Ngcuka a notice of the investigation and "his response will determine whether we should go down that (oral) painful road". On when he was likely to begin the investigation, Mushwana said: "If we decide to go the route of oral hearings, these people will have to have their legal representatives - one can't say exactly when, but from my side I'm almost ready to go."

Ngcuka's spokesperson, Makhosini Nkosi, said the National Prosecuting Authority was "prepared to co-operate with any investigation into (its) running by any agency of government". "We remain steadfast in our belief and assertion that there was never any abuse of office," said Nkosi. "We have nothing to fear and we want this matter to be dealt with speedily so we don't have further disturbances, as was the case when we were defending the spying allegations." Asked to comment on Zuma's complaint about Ngcuka's statement, Nkosi said: "The national director will state his case to the Public Protector - it's not for me to state his case in the press."

Lakela Kaunda, speaking for Zuma, said: "The deputy president submitted his complaint and awaits feedback from the Public Protector and has no comment on the processes or any aspect of the investigation."

# Maharaj and mining magnate Brett Kebble have also filed "abuse of office" complaints with Mushwana.

Source: IoL