Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa has instituted an investigation into the affairs of his provincial finance minister Paul Mashatile following Mail & Guardian reports of possible conflicts of interests.
But Shilowa immediately qualified the possible effectiveness of such an investigation by saying that on the basis of a brief conversation he had with Mashatile, he did not see any wrongdoing.
Mashatile’s declaration in the provincial register of interest showed that he had a 15% interest in Gadlex Holdings (which owns 97% of Gadlex), which is the 25% black economic empowerment partner of Business Connexion. The latter has contracts with the Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSSC), an institution that reports to Mashatile.
Gadlex directors, Benjamin and Isaac Mophatlane, Nkenke Kekana and Bridgman Sithole are personal friends of Mashatile.
Mashatile is also a director in Dibata Bata, an investment company, alongside Mike Maile, whom he recently appointed the new head of the GSSC.
Maile is also a business partner of Kekana and Sithole’s, both directors and shareholders in -Business Connexion subsidiaries. These, in turn, also have business contracts with the GSSC.
Shilowa told the M&G that he has asked his provincial director general Mogupudi Mokoena, to check the veracity of the information about Mashatile and how material it was to his work so that he (Shilowa) could finalise the matter. But he added that the investigation had not started because Mokoena was in hospital.
When asked if he did not conduct his own investigations into potential ministers’ private business interests before appointing them, Shilowa said he preferred to trust them. ”It is just my management style. I am not going to try and snoop. I ask them to declare to the DG who keeps track of everyone. I don’t perform my own probes because the auditor general does that.
”I would take a dim view if anyone of them failed to declare all interests because it would mean that they had something to hide,” Shilowa said.
The M&G however, pointed out that education minister Angie Motshekga was censured by the legislature in 2004 for possible conflicts of interests when she recommended the Sediba Sa Basadi empowerment group as an empowerment partner for pension pay-out company All Pay, which was receiving work from her department.
Motshekga’s husband Mathole was an adviser to Sediba Sa Basadi and the organisation also transferred R50 000 into her account.
But Shilowa countered that the problem then was not that she recommended Sediba, but that some of its money had been channelled through her account. ”I also get asked all the time by companies to recommend empowerment groups or NGOs to work with. There is nothing wrong in that, although I prefer not to get involved.”
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng has referred the allegations against Mashatile to the provincial Integrity Commissioner, Jules Browde, for his decision. The DA is also pushing for the adoption of a Manual on Executive Accountability to govern the conduct of provincial ministers.