South African taxpayers will have to wait for Sicelo Shiceka, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, to return to work before they could get answers on what happened to the ministerial car he allegedly crashed.
And if President Jacob Zuma dismisses Shiceka on the basis of a report by the public protector on the minister’s alleged misuse of taxpayer’s money, answers on the car crash may not be forthcoming at all.
Acting minister Nathi Mthethwa on Thursday refused to answer a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson on cooperative governance, James Lorimer, about the car crash. The Mail & Guardian reported in June that a car accident in Cape Town resulted in the ministry’s official car being written off.
“We would like the honourable member to allow the minister to recuperate as he is still on sick leave. It will be then that he [will be] able to respond to the question as asked,” stated Mthethwa’s response, which was signed by both the acting minister and the department’s director general, Elroy Africa.
Two departmental sources said Shiceka was driving the vehicle when it crashed, but this could not be independently verified by the M&G.
The DA’s Lorimer expressed disgust at the “non-response” on Thursday .
“Since when does being sick give a minister licence to fail to give a simple answer to a straightforward question? If he was really too ill to reply, he should have been relieved of his duties. He certainly should not have been out playing tennis,” said Lorimer.
In an interview with talk radio station 702 last week, Shiceka said he was “very much well” and playing tennis.
“Of course I want to continue where I left,” he told 702, when asked if he was ready to return to work.
The two-year-old Mercedes Benz E350, worth at least R670 000 at the time it was purchased in 2009, was meant for Shiceka’s official duties when he is in Cape Town. What made the crash raise eyebrows was the fact that Shiceka was already on sick leave, granted by President Zuma, apparently recovering from an undisclosed illness.
When approached on the matter, Shiceka did not deny that his car was involved in an accident, but refused to answer the M&G‘s questions.
“I am on leave, I can’t talk about that. Speak to the acting minister, Nathi Mthethwa,” he said in June. The minister has, however, responded to other media queries during his more than seven months of sick leave.
Department sources said the car was moved from Cape Town to Pretoria where it was hidden for about two weeks before it was removed because “questions were already being asked”, according to a source in the department.
The DA posed the questions because the party wanted to “establish the facts”, said Lorimer.
“That no answers have been forthcoming indicates that minister Shiceka does indeed have something to hide,” he said.
Lorimer said the the department’s reply seems to indicate that the car was indeed involved in an accident; that Shiceka may have been in the car at the time of the crash; that the current leadership of both the department and ministry were not prepared to take responsibility for what happened to the car; and that if a minister is on sick leave they are no longer answerable to Parliament.
“[Shiceka] has twice declared himself fit enough to return to work. If that is the case, why is he not fit enough to answer questions about this car crash?” asked Lorimer.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela says she has completed an investigation into Shiceka’s alleged misuse of millions of state funds, prompting speculation that Zuma may finally dismiss him from his Cabinet post.
Shiceka is alleged to have spent R355 000 of taxpayers’ money to visit a girlfriend in a Swiss jail, R640 000 to stay in a luxury hotel in Cape Town, and more than R160 000 on plane tickets for his family.