RE: KZN Legislature Speaker Hon NP Nkonyeni Dismisses Allegation of Tenderpreneurship

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker Ms Neliswa Nkonyeni has strongly dismissed allegations of "profiteering" from her office. She will be  inviting the public protector to investigate the allegations to prove her innocence.

"I would be inviting the Public Protector Ms Thuli Madonsela to investigate these allegations so that my name can be cleared once and for all," said Nkonyeni.

The allegations, which surfaced through the leader of the Democratic Alliance in the provincial legislature, suggest that Nkonyeni used her official position to solicit business from the same government in which she was elected to serve.

Ms Nkonyeni is tired of allegations that keep surfacing and few months later they evaporate like the morning dew. This is hurting her family, the people who are close to her and the tripartite alliance to which she belongs.

These allegations are politically motivated and designed to tarnish the image of Nkonyeni and convict her in the court of public opinion.

The only way in which her name would be cleared would be to have an independent body such as the Office of the Public Protector to come and investigate the allegations.

Nkonyeni was charged with fraud and corruption in connection with the mammogram cancer scanning machine and those charges were withdrawn because of lack of evidence. A machine which was never even purchased by the provincial department of health.

Interestingly these allegations came up prior to an in important political development in KZN - the deployment of ANC leaders following 2009 elections.

She has also been accused of alleged corruption in the case of the so called "Three Amigos" - charges of which she also flatly denied and would be contested in a court of law.

Statement issued by Mr Wonder Hlongwa, spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker Ms Neliswa Nkonyeni, October 31 2011

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