Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool faces a crisis after his own party, the ANC, supported a Democratic Alliance call for an investigation into whether he lied to the Western Cape legislature.
ANC national spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama told the Mail & Guardian that President Thabo Mbeki was as surprised as Rasool by the ANC’s support of the motion, carried with all-party support this week.
‘Only about three weeks ago, the president met both Rasool and the ANC chair of the Western Cape, James Ncgulu, about the lack of unity and cohesion within the ANC Western Cape leadership and to discuss a uniting strategy with them. The Western Cape ANC leadership faces many challenges and the national ANC leadership is watching this situation very closely,†he said.
ANC legislature member Garth Strachan said the investigation is ‘indeed very serious. Because we respect the legislature, we supported the DA motion. I don’t know what will happen if the premier is found to have lied, because it has never happened before. The legislature can only ask for a public apology and retraction and some form of censure. But it will be a massive thing,†Strachan said.
Rasool, who was informed of the DA motion before the legislature’s sitting on Tuesday, left before the DA’s Robin Carlisle proposed it. ‘I knew they were going to propose the motion and I knew the ANC would support it. I had an appointment with ANC chair James Ncgulu and had to leave the house,†he said when asked to explain his actions. ‘The ANC leadership, both provincial and national, will now have to deal with this issue,†Rasool continued.
Ngonyama said the national ANC leadership would wait to see how the Western Cape leaders dealt with the issue.
The DA motion states that ‘reasonable evidence exists to suggest that both the public and the legislature may have been misled in a most important matter†and consequently resolves to appoint an ad hoc committee to enquire and report on whether the premier has misled the house.
At issue are allegations that Western Cape Minister for Safety and Security Leonard Ramatlakane, a close Rasool ally, overspent on security upgrades at his private house to the tune of R247 716. Rasool told the legislature that the Western Cape Auditor General, Imraan Jeewa, had recommended that the payment irregularities should be condoned by the legislatures’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa).
But in a devastating blow to Rasool’s version, Jeewa, who has since moved to the private sector, wrote to Scopa last week and said that he had made no such recommendation. He also denied telling Rasool there was no evidence of fraud or corruption involving Ramatlakane.
Jeewa also made it clear that he had met the premier once and not twice, as Rasool claimed before the legislature.
The Auditor General wrote: ‘I cannot comment whether fraud or corruption was taking place, since we have executed a financial audit and not a forensic investigation. Our financial audit had identified areas of concern relating to breakdown in financial controls and non-compliance with laws and regulations. [Although] these weaknesses … directly do not portray fraudulent activities, these breakdowns in controls could result in fraud taking place. A proper fraud investigation would need to be executed to conclusively determine whether fraud is being perpetrated.â€
The Auditor General’s annual briefing document to Scopa, delivered in October last year, found that Ramatlakane overspent on security upgrades at his house; that R148 561 was invoiced and paid for by the department, while work valued at only R80 096 had been carried out; and that duplicate payments amounting to R57 530 were made.
He found that these ‘transactions could possibly be regarded as irregular expenditure†and recommended that all improvements should be investigated. If expenditure contrary to directives was uncovered, the money should be repaid.
Two months later, Rasool said in a statement that he had met Jeewa on October 2 and December 4 last year and that there was ‘no cause for concern about corruption or maladministration, save for mention of auditing infractions in some departmentsâ€.
‘The AG had earlier expressed the view that it was more a lack of administrative oversight than corruption or maladministration and, noting the exceptional circumstances of threats on the life of MEC Ramatlakane, urged Scopa to recommend the condonation of this oversight rather than seek repayment from the MEC,†said Rasool.
Last week, he again told the legislature that Jeewa had told him there was nothing that ‘had led him to the conclusion of corruption, maladministration and financial managementâ€.
Carlisle asked the premier to search his mind: ‘Are you certain … the AG urged Scopa to recommend the condonation of this oversight rather than seek repayment from … Ramatlakane?†Rasool responded: ‘The word the AG had used was ‘recommend’.â€
Deputy Speaker Yusuf Gabru is likely to be asked to assemble a multiparty ad hoc committee to investigate the allegations against Rasool. It could start work as early as next week.