Sechaba ka’Nkosi
Embattled Gauteng MEC for Safety and Security Jessie Duarte came out this week with guns blazing in a bid to clear her name from what she calls a “smear campaign” against her.
In an exclusive four-hour interview with the Mail & Guardian at her Johannesburg home, Duarte said while she was willing to co- operate with the two-person task team appointed by Premier Mathole Motshekga on Monday to probe the allegations, she would not apologise for what she had done – even if it costs her her job.
“I am going to the commission and I will answer everything I am asked. If I am guilty, I am prepared to pay. But I am not going to resign,” said Duarte.
Opposition parties called for her resignation or suspension last week. Charges levelled against her include driving an official government car without a valid driver’s licence and failing to report in time that her car was involved in an accident.
She is also accused of employing an underqualified consultant at nearly R300 000 a year, and of buying an unauthorised air ticket to Portugal for a friend who is not a government employee.
Duarte unleashed scathing criticism at officials in the Gauteng provincial government’s civil service – particularly its Director General, Vincent Mntambo, and her department’s suspended director of support services, Theo Burgers.
She acknowledged there were administrative irregularities in her department, but argued that documents leaked to the media last week were carefully selected to give a one-sided story aimed at undermining her in the run-up to the elections next year.
To prove her innocence, Duarte produced further documents which she pledged to hand in to the commission to illustrate why she took certain decisions.
The documents support Duarte’s assessment that:
* An internal inquiry cleared her of any suspicions regarding the accident, and accepted that the car was driven by her driver and bodyguard, David Sons. She acknowledges the accident was reported to the police nine days later – two days later than officially required – but a departmental accident report form was completed by Sons. Lerato Moruping, who had asked in a memo leaked to the press who had driven the vehicle, subsequently wrote that she was satisfied with Sons’s explanation.
* Payment for the trip to Portugal was sanctioned by former premier Tokyo Sexwale and the provincial treasury. The purpose of the trip, according to Duarte’s documents, was to allay fears in Portugal about a spate of killings of Portuguese citizens in Gauteng.
* An investigation into the employment of controversial consultant Joseph Banda was conducted by Burgers only after Duarte recommended that he be employed by the department on a full-time basis. Banda holds a standard eight certificate, but Duarte said he was one of the most useful employees in her department. Once Burgers informed her of problems with Banda’s past, she took action.
Said Duarte about the car accident: “I find it a bit ridiculous that [Democratic Party leader in Gauteng] Peter Leon can ask for my driver’s licence while I hardly drive. I hold a very sensitive portfolio and I know I’m vulnerable. I am a security risk.”
The one question that brought an emotional response is the nature of her relationship with Babalazi Bulunga, the man who went along on the Portugal trip.
She said she met Bulunga in 1995, during the violence on the East Rand. They worked together with other comrades in demobilising the ANC’s self-defence units and the self- protection units of the Inkatha Freedom Party. A prominent human resource executive, he has done voluntary work for her department ever since.
“I still think I did the right thing [in taking him to Portugal]. I took people who understood the issues and who went there and reported back. In fact, ever since we started working with the Portuguese community, there have not been any killings. To me that is a success.”
Burgers was responsible for keeping all the department’s records and personal files. Yet days before he was suspended, sensitive files and records disappeared from the department.
The internal investigation noted that Burgers boasted he was in possession of documents which constituted “proof” of impropriety and misconduct of senior members in the department.
In an apparent reference to Burgers on Monday, Motshekga said his government was considering pressing criminal charges against individuals who steal state documents. “The theft and leakage of public documents is illegal and unacceptable. Anybody found to be doing that will be dealt with severely under the provisions of the law,” he warned.
Duarte said she was not directly involved with Banda’s employment and remuneration. She motivated for him to be employed as a permanent employee because he was “efficient”. It was only then that a background check was done on him. When his past employment record was brought to her attention, she fired him immediately, although she was not happy with the decision.
“Banda was one of the most hard-working people we had in the department. We were all sorry to lose him, but I had to act because he did not disclose his previous employment. But I think if Banda was white, his qualifications would not have been an issue. What hurt most is that the democracy we fought for hurts the victims most.”
Duarte said while she is not happy with the publicity she has received in the past few days, she is not bitter. When she expressed reservations about Motshekga’s nomination for the premiership, she was only exercising her democratic right.
“Perhaps my weakest point is that I refuse to be blackmailed. I am not scared of dealing with issues, and that is what people probably have a problem with,” she said.
A headline in the February 6 to 12 edition of the Mail & Guardian – “Lover’s trip damns Duarte” – implied it was a fact that Babalazi Bulunga was the lover of Jessie Duarte. The M&G places on record that the article merely reported that the allegation had been made, and it was not proven. We apologise to Duarte and Bulunga for any embarrassment or hurt caused by the headline.