In a move typical of its bold and uncompromising style of African National Congress leadership, a convicted fraudster has been appointed to the Cabinet. Prisoner number 456788/98, Mbelikanqa Moujamgabale, currently serving a 33-year sentence for corruption, theft and fraudulently impersonating a tax collector, is the new deputy minister of local government.
While he was mayor of the small Mpumalanga town of Tsinnieshof, Moujamgabale personally embezzled, stole and misappropriated in excess of R280-million. In a lengthy court case, he was found guilty on 124 counts of corruption, embezzlement and theft, including openly diverting multimillion-rand municipal funds into several bank accounts in his wife’s name; awarding huge contracts to a building contracting firm of which he was sole director, including a R159-million contract for the building of a 185-bed hospital; ordering new office equipment and computers to the value of R2,5-million from a company owned by his brother; ordering the municipality to buy 10 new fire engines and 18 ambulances from a company he had acquired the previous month; and pretending he was a tax collector and deducting more than 50% in cash from the pay packets of the municipal workers.
In passing sentence, Judge Havelock Nduve said that in all his seven weeks on the Bench he had never known such a shocking case.
In response to widespread alarm and despondency at the appointment, Cabinet spokesapologist, Merryman Fraser-Walimpele, said that a ‘typically racist media conspiracy” had been launched with the sole purpose of ‘digging up dirt” on those dedicated to the furtherance of democratic ideals in South Africa. Before his conviction, Moujamgabale has been an exemplary activist in the struggle against apartheid.
Asked about Moujamgabale’s conviction on multiple corruption charges, Fraser-Walimpele said that ‘anyone can trip and fall”. He said it took a political party of great compassion to lean down and offer a helping hand to help those who had tumbled. ‘Moujamgabale’s criminal record shows he is ideal ANC material,” he said.
‘We should all remember the biblical injunction that one needs to set a thief to catch a thief, and that Deputy Minister Mbelikanqa Moujamgabale’s deep experience in corruption, fraud and good old theft would stand him and the country in good stead. This man has got lots of time on his hands,” added Fraser-Walimpele.
Asked whether Moujamgabale would be disadvantaged by being in prison, denied the usual privileges of normal political activity, such as not being able to attend Cabinet meetings or Parliament, enjoy banquet privileges and trips on the presidential jet, or even take part in flagrantly pro-government SABC television news broadcasts, Fraser-Walimpele said that arrangements were being made which would allow Moujamgabale certain privileges and rights normally denied prisoners. These would include video conferencing facilities in his cell, the provision of secretarial and advisory staff and numerous other minor but vital allowances like a free Telkom ADSL line and satellite television.
National ARV rollout winner
The Ministry of Health has announced who will benefit from the next phase of the anti-Aids medication roll-out. She is Mrs M Mathlabane of Vereeniging. ‘I have never won anything before. I feel so happy,” said the winner. ‘Now I can live long enough to bring up my three children.” Mathlabane (36) was selected from among 700 000 Aids sufferers by a machine with coloured, bouncing balls. She joins a grand total of 12 other winners announced in the past 5 years. Mathlabane was congratulated on her continued existence by Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. At a live television event, the beaming minister declared that ‘with yet another lucky person winning their life back, no one can deny that we are aggressively rolling out ARVs”. Ten runners-up received hampers of African potato and garlic.
And for the remaining hundreds of thousands dying from Aids? There’s always next week, with ‘Tata Ma Chance, Tata Ma National Anti-Retroviral HIV/Aids Medication Rollout Programme!”. — Nimrod Giva
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