Former gender commission chairperson Nonboniso Gasa was accused of corruption. Here she responds
Dear President Zuma,
I write in the media not because I misunderstand protocols required to address the president. I have written to your office several times since September 2008 but I have yet to receive any response. Even my letter of resignation from the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE), in March 2009, went unacknowledged.
For two years allegations of corruption have been publicly levelled against me, without proof or resolution. Our democratic institutions, starting with your office, have failed the established constitutional institutions — and me as a citizen.
The accusations, which have been presented formally to Parliament and the auditor general, involve an amount that has now risen to millions of rands. After I left the CGE, a commissioner told Special Assignment that I was under investigation. I wrote to the CGE for clarification. No response.
I and 11 other commissioners were appointed to the CGE in May 2007. Many of us noticed at once that various internal systems and control measures fell short. Soon after, the report of the joint committee on chapter nine institutions, chaired by Kader Asmal, was released. It confirmed our sense of the CGE’s problems and we embarked on a transparent organisational diagnosis and attempted to treat problems, put systems in place and match skills to jobs and thus build human capacity in the CGE.
Today I stand accused of corruption and abusing CGE employees. In March 2009 some CGE staff marched under the banner of Nehawu, declaring: “Gasa must go. She ate CGE money. Gasa must go. She gave CGE money to Cope.”
According to the CGE’s presentation to the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on May 7 2010, former colleagues said I forced them to sign tenders and contracts. Some accused me of running a patronage system and that I illegally employed an interim chief executive and abused CGE employees; that I threatened non-South Africans with expulsion (exposing my xenophobia) and that I generally interfered with the smooth running of the CGE.
None of these allegations has been put to me directly, so I can only provide insight and context. When a formal platform is created and questions and allegations are put to me by a duly authorised body I will answer them all: the evidence is available. Scopa is one such body but, given the nature of the issues here, it is clear that an integrated approach and platform must be found.
The Scopa meeting in May was a follow-up to a meeting in April, at which the CGE’s 2007-2008 annual report was presented. It contained allegations to which I was asked to respond. At the time, our chief accounting officer had been suspended and we commissioners had to table the report. To my surprise, it was unsigned. When its veracity was queried, not one commissioner could affirm its validity. These individuals, by remaining silent, effectively denied any knowledge of it.
Only the auditor general has addressed these issues — through a forensic audit. But it was instituted at a snail’s pace, partly because the then deputy speaker, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge (capable of speed when summoning me to Parliament), did not sign the engagement letter. The audit was commissioned by Parliament long after I had requested it. I pressed for it repeatedly and persisted with inquiries.
Two weeks ago I learned from public statements by the CGE that the public protector is also investigating. Apart from a letter to me as commission chair in March 2009, requesting a schedule of documents, I knew nothing of the public protector’s involvement. If such an investigation is taking place, should I not be informed of the terms of reference and be asked to make submissions or answer questions? According to CGE statements, the public protector is almost done with her report. How is this possible without my participation?
Is this investigation by ambush? I wrote to the public protector and was told that at least the public protector was looking at the CGE as an institution, and that I should make an input. This I intend doing.
If I am accused of corruption, I have a right to know who is investigating me, on what grounds, for what transgressions, and with what authority, to know where and when I can present my own evidence, and why there is such reluctance to investigate the CGE itself. A number of documents have not been made available; judging by the auditor general’s reports, they have been concealed from that process. These include the Harris Commission Report on the suspension of the former chief executive, and the charges against three CGE employees that led to their expulsion. The matter went to court, so records can be obtained easily. Yet these staff members suddenly became “whistleblowers”, a term used uncritically even in the auditor general’s statutory audit.
There is an inconsistency between these findings and what we saw when we arrived at the CGE. I am sure an investigation will yield invaluable evidence which will speak for itself. No doubt many commissioners (past and present) and taxpayers will welcome this; it will address all these matters.
I have not been charged with anything. What happens if the investigation reveals that this wave of untested allegations is a smokescreen hiding others’ transgressions? How to remedy false allegations?
Some may see events at our home as unrelated to the allegations. Two years ago thieves bypassed our alarm system, went directly to our work rooms and took our computers and other electronic equipment. My husband, Raymond Suttner, woken by the sounds, was left bleeding on the floor, struck by an aluminium step ladder. At home we still hear strange noises and the phone makes odd sounds. A month ago I came out of a mall and found the nuts of my rear tyre loosened. I would like to treat these events as ordinary acts of crime. Can I be assured of this?
As for Cope, I am not a member and have had no talks with the party, despite this being within my political rights. Those who alleged I gave CGE money to Cope should prove it. I have been cooperating with the auditor general and every other structure and I will continue to do so.
I stand accused of corruption and abuse of power. I have not been charged and am innocent until proved otherwise by a transparent, fair and just process. Justice must be done and must be seen to be done.
Nomboniso Gasa is a researcher, writer, trainer and analyst on politics, gender and cultural issues. She is the editor of Women in South African History (HSRC, 2007)