A report on Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota’s failure to disclose his business interests to Parliament was handed to the President’s office on Friday.
In May this year, the Mail & Guardian reported on Lekota’s undisclosed business interests in Landzicht winery and BZL Petroleum.
The wine company does regular business with the Free State government, an administration Lekota formerly headed. The company obtained funding from a national government agency to exhibit its products in three countries.
The Democratic Alliance asked Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana to investigate Lekota’s contravention of the Executive Ethics Code, which forbids a minister from holding directorships, shares and business interests.
The fuel company is a distribution agency of Caltex, the petroleum giant, and recently tried to secure a Transnet deal.
Lekota’s involvement in the businesses raised serious conflict-of-interest questions as Lekota was arguably in the position to use his influence and has access to privileged information that could advance his business interests.
The Executive Members Ethics Act and the ministerial handbook require all ministers to disclose all their shares and directorships.
The M&G reported Lekota admitted to having failed to disclose his interests and said that he may have benefited financially from one of the companies
Failure to disclose has recently led to disgrace for former African National Congress Women’s League president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni.
Both Yengeni and Madikizela-Mandela escaped Parliament’s censure after they resigned from Parliament in the wake of their separate fraud convictions earlier this year.
Colm Allan, speaking to the M&G head of the watchdog Public Service Accountability Monitor at Rhodes University, this week said of Lekota’s case: ”Revelations of this nature serve to undermine public trust in the government.
”It is important for the South African public to have sufficient confidence in the government to assume that when executive members take decisions these are designed to serve public needs and not their own private interests.
”Because of the power that Cabinet ministers have to make decisions about the allocation of government resources, the Constitution requires them to be absolutely transparent about their own private business interests.”
Earlier in May, Parliament’s joint ethics committee sanctioned Lekota for failing to comply with the provisions of the parliamentary code of conduct.
He was fined one week’s (seven days) salary. This translates into an amount of R11 485 for Lekota, as a cabinet minister. He also received a written reprimand from Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala.
In a statement on Friday, Mushwana said the details of the report would be released once President Thabo Mbeki had studied it.
Mbeki is currently in Maputo for the African Union summit. – Sapa