COSATU Statement on Mahlangu Nkabinde

COSATU notes the intentions of the Minister of Public Works to nullify the irregular and corrupt police building lease agreements.

We also note that the Minister is claiming innocence regarding the corruption that characterized the lease agreements, which were described by the Public Protector as unlawful and "fatally flawed."

COSATU welcomes this new enthusiasm against corruption. However, COSATU strongly believes that the Minister must account on the corruption ridden agreements and provide answers as to why she adamantly defied legal advice and forced her hand to reinstate the leases.

The Minister must also account on her failure to cooperate with the Public Protector's investigation into the matter. COSATU considers this a serious indictment to our constitution, as the Public Protector has a constitutional expression as one of the Chapter Nine institutions supporting our constitutional democracy.

We thus find Minister Mahlangu-Nkabinde's newly found energy as a champion against corruption highly suspicious and hollow. The Minister's court antics are nothing but a belated attempt at self cleansing.

COSATU strongly believes that the lease agreements corruption and other forms of tender corruption in the Public Works department expose the pitfalls of government's over-reliance on tendering and outsourcing to fulfill its development mandate. COSATU strongly calls for the government to develop internal capacity to deliver basic goods and services and cease outsourcing as this merely creates a fertile ground for corruption.

COSATU awaits President Jacob Zuma to act on the recommendations of the Public Protector regarding the unlawful leases and to "do right thing". The President must take a tough stance against those who commit corruption, which constitutes blatant theft from the poor.  

Statement issued by Phindile Kunene, Shopsteward Editor, COSATU, September 21 2011

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