MTN Group (Ltd)/Iran scandal: DIRCO must also suspend and probe Ambassador Abdul Minty
South Africa's former ambassador to Iran, Yusuf Saloojee, is the first casualty of the scandal surrounding the MTN Group (Ltd)'s alleged corrupt attempt to secure a mobile operating license in Iran.
The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has acted correctly, after some prodding by the opposition, to suspend Ambassador Yusuf Saloojee pending the outcome of an investigation into his allegedly taking a US$200 000 bribe from the MTN Group (Ltd).
However, Ambassador Yusuf Saloojee is not the only senior official in the international relations and cooperation department to be implicated. Ambassador Abdul Minty is also implicated in the scandal surrounding the MTN (Group) Ltd's alleged corrupt attempt to secure a mobile operating license in Iran.
It has been alleged, in court papers lodged in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, by rival mobile operating company Turkcell that the MTN Group (Ltd) tried to influence South Africa's policy on Iran's nuclear programme.
This allegedly included attempts by the MTN Group (Ltd) to influence South Africa's vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by inter alia trying to influence Ambassador Abdul Minty, who served on the Board of Governors of the IAEA, to abstain during a crucial 2005 vote on Iran's nuclear program by the IAEA. It is alleged in the court papers, lodged by Turkcell, that: