Public Protector must expedite probe into Mokonyane
19 March 2018
The DA will write to Public Protector, Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane, to request that she give an update on the investigation into former Water and Sanitation Minister, Nomvula Makonyane, as requested by the DA in 2016 into alleged tender irregularities while she was at department’s helm.
This is in light of media reports revealing how Minister Mokonyane possibly paved way for a construction company to earn billions of rands despite being implicated in the controversial R2.7 billion Giyani Water Project in Limpopo.
According to reports, “Documents show that former Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane, might have had a hand in the appointment of LTE Consulting Engineers to work on the Giyani Water Project.. LTE was appointed without a public tender process by Lepelle Northern Water.”
The DA reiterates our request that Public Protector finalises the probe into Mokonyane. Should there be found that Mokonyane acted irregularly, she be held personally responsible for her role.
Mokonyane must not be let off the hook for the fact under her watch the department was grossly mismanaged; procurement processes were flouted; and tenders created for pals which caused the department to face near bankruptcy.
There are wide-ranging allegations in which Mokonyane has wilfully undermined her department’s mandate in order to create tenders for pals. The gross mismanagement and lack of decisive leadership, coupled with the ailing infrastructure, have placed water security at a serious risk in the country.
It is now clear that Mokonyane is not fit to serve South Africans in any leadership capacity and her conduct is reflective of someone who disregards South Africans’ lives.
This is a direct indictment on Minister Mokonyane and entire ANC government which has continually detached itself from the plight of our people who don’t have access to clean water.
Mokonyane definitely has a case to answer for failing millions of people struggling without water, due to poor infrastructure, possible corruption and the mismanagement of our water resources.
The DA will keenly await an update from the Public Protector as to what steps have been taken to date in order to determine Mokonyane’s role over alleged irregularities in her department which the DA brought to her attention in 2016.
Issued by Leon Basson, DA Shadow Minister of Water and Sanitation, 19 March 2018
