Minister Cele does not believe that there was a conflict of interest in the Mulaudzi scandal

2 December 2020

Police Minister, Bheki Cele, has finally responded to parliamentary questions submitted to him by the Democratic Alliance (DA) regarding the Hangwani Mulaudzi scandal (See attached).

In an attempt to avoid accountability, the Minister has actively sought to ignore the fact that one of his department’s employees received funding to the value of R3 million from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).

In his response, Cele revealed that he was not aware of the funding received by Mulaudzi as he believed there was no obligation to do so.

How is it possible that a clear conflict of interest was not declared to his department? When it may have serious implications into the investigation into corruption at the NLC.

It is important to note that the Mulaudzi scandal is not the only case of malfeasance related to the Hawks investigation into the NLC. In October 2020, Groundup revealed that it had “…learned from two sources that a colonel has been removed from the task because her husband, who was investigating a Lottery case, is himself under investigation”.

This begs the question, how can the public and Parliament be assured that the investigation which is currently underway into the NLC is not being compromised by individual members of the Hawks.

Therefore, we call on the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) to ensure that both of these matters are included in their investigation and that the results of said investigation are made public.

Issued by Mat Cuthbert,DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, 2 December 2020