JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Thursday 6.00pm.
THE African National Congress has formally suspended two more of its senior provincial leaders in Mpumalanga after weeks of persistent press reports about their complicity in irregularities.
Provincial chairman and Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa said at a special conference on Thursday that the party decided to suspend finance MEC Jacques Modipane and legislature member David Mkhwanazi. Both have also been relieved of all their government duties pending a closed ANC disciplinary hearing on Tuesday night.
Modipane has resigned permanently from the provincial executive council, explaining in a letter to Phosa that his job had become impossible because of allegations of unethical business interests and his disputed role in the R1,3-billion illegal promissory note saga.
ANC provincial spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party would cross-examine Modipane’s role in the issue of six promissory notes on Tuesday and would examine whether he neglected his duty to inform the provincial executive, national loans co-ordinating committee and national finance minister about the scheme.
The ANC will also attempt to verify press reports that Modipane had a secret business partnership with Mkhwanazi, South Africa’s ambassador to Mozambique, Mangisi Zitha, and other office bearers.
“We want to know whether or not he unethically entered into some ownership of the Air Excellence helicopter partnership and whether or not the partnership did business or had contracts with government,” said Mthembu. “We need to know whether they enriched themselves or not.”
Phosa stressed that this aspect of the probe would later be broadened to include all Modipane and Mkhwanazi’s business dealings.
The charges against Mkhwanazi centre on whether he abused his elected position as former environmental affairs MEC, whether he engaged in nepotism and whether he enriched himself while still in office.
Mkhwanazi was forced to resign in May after a series of press reports revealed that he hired his wife, daughter, sister-in-law and cousin, as well as the relatives of other senior provincial leaders.
Mthembu added that both the Auditor General and legislature portfolio committee on public accounts recently proved that Mkhwanazi deliberately circumvented normal employment procedures while appointing some of the people.
He said the AG had also found that Mkhwanazi illegally spent R20-million by by-passing the provincial tender board and using the Mpumalanga Parks Board as a facilitator to buy property, computers and various other questionable items. — African Eye News Service