Stop the rot in fisheries management: minister must investigate graft allegations
Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) is in dire need of a completely new start. The turf war between officials and staff inside this branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs is seriously compromising its ability to manage fisheries in South Africa. The Democratic Alliance is in possession of numerous letters from staff within MCM outlining serious allegations against senior officials. The basic argument of these letters is that the officials accused of graft are scuppering the transfer of all functions of MCM to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
After the 2009 elections President Zuma made it clear that fisheries were to be transferred to the portfolio of the Ministry of Agriculture. Considering that the new Minister of Environmental Affairs had the mammoth water portfolio added to her portfolio, it made sense to share the responsibilities between the two Ministers more equitably. However, since President Zuma made his intentions clear he has slipped into the background while a turf war of epic proportions has unfolded. President Zuma must step back into the fold and govern. The transfer must be completed and the Marine Living Resources Act must be brought to Parliament for consideration by the legislators.
The accusations levelled against senior staff, most notably Dr Mayekiso, the former DDG of MCM are serious and require further investigation. The accusations are not new and have previously been sent to MPs in the National Assembly. This resulted in the DA submitting a number of parliamentary questions late last year on among other things the processes surrounding the identification of aquaculture sites and contracts awarded to the Resolve Group, for which Mayekiso's son works. All questions were answered by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs and are in the public domain, and she is accountable for those answers.
While I am personally expected to respect the information provided in answers from Ministers, it must be noted that in one letter to me it is said that parliamentary responses "hide the real facts." I, nor anyone on the outside of MCM, can accurately judge the truth in that statement. However, the growing discontent at Dr Mayekiso, coupled with the fact that a 1999 Audit Report initiated by the former Minister, Valli Moosa, into the financial management of MCM found Dr Mayekiso to be responsible for, among other things, unauthorised expenditure and transgression of treasury instructions, suggests that Dr Mayekiso should be suspended now pending a thorough investigation. Not having Dr Mayekiso involved in the transfer of MCM to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, would also lower temperatures and ensure that the way the transfer is done is in the best interest of improving fisheries management.
I will today write to the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, who is currently the head of the Department that Dr Mayekiso works for and ask for his suspension pending an investigation. I will in addition submit for comment to the Minister the letter written to me by staff within MCM which states that the parliamentary responses in question "hide the real facts".
Statement issued by Gareth Morgan, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of water and environmental affairs, February 10 2010
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