The director general in the presidency, Frank Chikane, has been asked by an opposition MP to investigate whether the Minister of Social Development, Zola Skweyiya, may have contravened the Executive Members’ Ethics Act.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Hendrik Schmidt said in a statement on Monday: “I have written to the director general in the Presidency, Reverend Frank Chikane, asking him to investigate whether the Minister of Social Development, Zola Skweyiya, may have contravened the Executive Members’ Ethics Act.
“On December 19, Imvume Management paid over R65Â 000 to Hartkon, a construction company renovating the Pretoria residence of Minister Skweyiya and his wife, Thuthukile Mazibuko-Skweyiya.
“This payment raises serious questions about a possible conflict of interest, since Imvume Management CEO Sandi Majali is active in the field of social grants distribution, a function overseen by Skweyiya’s ministry.
“One of Mr Majali’s companies, the Permit group, has partnered Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) in distributing social grants. CPS is the country’s premier grants distribution group, with contracts from five provincial governments. According to an article in the Mail & Guardian of 9 June, Mr Majali’s companies were given a contract worth R700Â 000 a month to communicate CPS’s message to stakeholders from pensioners’ committees to church groups and local politicians.
“This raises the question of whether Mr Majali’s payment of R65Â 000 constitutes an attempt to buy influence with the minister.
“I have therefore asked Reverend Chikane to urgently investigate the matter and to determine whether the payment of R65Â 000 constitutes a breach of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act, 1998, particularly section 2 (2) (b) (iii) which states that ‘The code of ethics must … include provisions prohibiting Cabinet members, deputy ministers and MECs from exposing themselves to any situation involving the risk of a conflict between their official responsibilities and their private interests’.”
According to a report in the M&G on June 9, when Sandi Majali wrote cheques after getting a multimillion-rand advance from the state oil company, two of the first recipients were relatives of Cabinet ministers.
The ministers — Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of Minerals and Energy and Zola Skweyiya of Social Development — regulate fields in which Majali’s companies operated.
The M&G revealed recently how, in December 2003, Majali’s Imvume Management — a company best known for its Iraqi oil dealings and closeness to the African National Congress — got a R15- million advance from oil parastatal PetroSA. The advance was for oil condensate Imvume was supplying to PetroSA.
From that money, Imvume paid R11- million to the ANC. When Imvume defaulted on paying its own foreign supplier, PetroSA duplicated the advance, meaning the parastatal effectively subsidised the ruling party.
The M&G has seen forensic evidence that even before issuing the ANC cheques, Majali wrote cheques to Mlambo-Ngcuka’s brother, and to a builder who was renovating Skweyiya’s private residence. – -I-Net Bridge and M&G reporter