The Donen Commission report is President Zuma's first real test
Once again South Africa is faced with a situation where leading members of the executive have serious allegations hanging over their heads, which have not been properly investigated nor, it appears, acted upon.
This is President Jacob Zuma's first real test, and how he acts in response will say much about his attitude to corruption. Indeed, it will determine whether he is prepared to underpin his commitment to fighting corruption with the requisite action. It is our sincere hope he will rise to this challenge, and our parliamentary leader Athol Trollip will raise this matter when he meets again with the President later this week.
The leaked report of the Donen Commission into several South African companies' role in the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme implicates Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale and the Director General in the Department of Minerals and Energy, Sandile Nogxina, in possible corruption (see report).
The Democratic Alliance believes the following three things need to happen:
- First, President Jacob Zuma needs to make the full report available to the public. The President knows better than anyone the problems with having unanswered allegations hanging over a public official's head, least of all a member of the executive.
- Second, a commission of investigation into those South African companies implicated in the UN oil-for-food programme needs to be reconstituted. It needs to be chaired by a judge and, importantly, it must have the power of subpoena. It is clear from today's reports that the Donen Commission was unable to properly interrogate key players because it was not able to properly issue subpoenas.
- Third, a full and proper investigation of this matter will only be possible if it has the full support of the President. In other words, there must be the necessary political will to have this matter investigated and, if those people implicated are found to have committed corruption, to ensure there are consequences.
With regards to the Deputy President, the report states that he might have been "privy to material information" involving controversial businessman and ANC-funder Sandile Majali and his company Imvume, implicated in the UN report. Minister Sexwale (co-director of Mocoh, another company implicated) is criticised by the report as being silent on key issues and, most significantly, the Commission report suggests Nogxina failed to act to prevent South African companies paying illegal surcharges for Iraqi oil.
The Sunday Times report on which this information is based is, however, problematic as it quotes selectively and fails to place any of the information it reveals in its full and proper context. The fact that the newspaper has not made the full report available suggests it has, in fact, not seen the full report. In this sense, it is difficult to ascertain the full extent of the evidence against those implicated and what the appropriate action should be.
President Zuma has repeatedly talked of the government's commitment to openness and transparency. Now words must be followed through with actions and we urge the President to make the full Donen Commission report available, and reconstitute a commission of investigation with the power to look into this matter properly.
Statement issued by Ian Davidson, MP, Democratic Alliance chief whip, August 23 2009
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