Text of the letter from President Jacob Zuma to Max Sisulu MP, Speaker of the National Assembly, Parliament, August 4 2011:

04 August 2011

Dear Honourable Speaker

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS

I have received two Reports from the Public Protector regarding an investigation into complaints and allegations of maladministration, improper and unlawful conduct by the Department of Public Works and the South African Police Service (SAPS) concerning the leasing of office accommodation in Durban and Pretoria.

I understand that the two Reports were also submitted to you by the Public Protector.

In her Reports the Public Protector makes several recommendations and proposes several remedial actions.

Among the recommendations the Public Protector made are the following:

The Minister of Police should, with the assistance of the National Treasury, take urgent steps to ensure that appropriate action is instituted against the National Commissioner and other officials of the SAPS that acted in contravention of the law, policy and other prescripts in respect of the procurement processes referred to in the reports.

That I consider taking action against the Minister of Public Works, for her actions as outlined in the reports.

After careful consideration of the reports, the Public Protector Act and the Constitution, I felt that it will be prudent to inform the National Assembly about the actions I have taken thus far, regarding the Public Protector's recommendations in the reports.

Upon receipt of the Public Protector's reports I wrote to both the Ministers of Police and Public Works drawing their attention to specific findings and recommendations, and requested them to take appropriate measures to implement the Public Protector's recommendations and to report to me the progress made in this regard.

I am now in possession of the preliminary reports from both Ministers on the matter.

RESPONSES FROM MINISTERS:

On the recommendation by the Public Protector for the SAPS to seek the assistance of the Department of Public Works regarding the SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit's (FCS) accommodation, the Minister of Police has instructed the SAPS to conduct a needs assessment first his review before a request for accommodation is sent to Public Works.

On the recommendation by the Public Protector that the Minister of Public Works should seek the assistance of the National Treasury with regard to taking steps against officials who acted in contravention of the PFMA and supply change management, the Minister of Public Works is working with the Ministers of Finance and Public Service and Administration to address this matter. I have instructed the Ministers to furnish me with their action plan.

The Minister of Public Works has also instituted a moratorium on the procurement of goods and services by the Department of Public Works to ensure that remedial action is taken on the procurement processes the Department is involved in, including the reconstitution of the National Bid Adjudication Committee.

The moratorium will be for a period of six months to allow for the remedial steps to be implemented.

During the moratorium, the Department of Public Works will address the following matters with respect to its procurement processes for goods and services:

(i) Institute an audit of the supply chain management systems and processes by an independent institution to identify weaknesses and recommend remedial actions;

(ii) Institute review of all contracts and their centralisation at the Legal Services Unit for effective management and administration;

(iii) Strengthen capacity of the Legal Services Unit to enable it to deal with large scale transactions of the Department;

(iv) Put in place a review process of all Departmental delegations in order to reduce high financial risk carried by delegations given to junior officials, and

(v) Address the issues raised in the skills, experience and qualification audit of senior management conducted recently in the Department.

With regard to the recommendation by the Public Protector that Ms Nel from the KZN Regional Office be reinstated to her position, the Minister of Public Works has issued a directive to the Acting Director-General of the Department to appoint an independent investigator to probe the circumstances that led to her removal from her position of managing the SAPS portfolio and to report on his findings after which she will then update the President of the Republic.

In the case of the National Commissioner, the Minister of Police wrote to General Bheki Cele requesting his formal response to the allegations made about his role in the lease agreements process.

The National Commissioner has responded and the Minister of Police will undertake further work with Ministers of Treasury and Public Service and Administration.

Regarding the recommendation relating to the lease deal for the Pretoria SAPS headquarters, the Minister of Police has instructed the Supply Chain Division to ensure that all prescripts of the PFMA are followed in dealing with all services (including leases). The Minister has had follow up meetings with the Division to track progress. He has also asked the Secretary of Police (in her role of providing oversight of the police) to meet bi-monthly with Treasury officials and provide him with early warning reports.

Regarding recommendations stating that action should be taken against SAPS members who violated proper procedures, the Minister of Police has asked the Secretary of Police to review the final report of the Public Protector and inform him whether any other officials should face possible action and to seek a legal opinion in this regard.

WAY FORWARD

After considering the reports from the two Ministers, I have further requested that they provide me with information on matters which I thought were not adequately addressed in their reports without delay. This additional information will enable me to take appropriate action.

A full report will be submitted to the National Assembly as soon as I have received the outstanding information.

Yours sincerely

Signed
JG ZUMA

Honourable MV Sisulu, MP
Speaker of the National Assembly
P.O. Box 15
CAPE TOWN
8000
Cc: Adv T N Madonsela: Public Protector of the Republic of South Africa

Issued by Parliament, August 8 2011

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