The investigation by the directorate for priority crime investigations (The Hawks) into allegations implicating the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, in tender corruption is a serious matter. She should be suspended at once pending the final outcome of the case.
It is shocking that corruption repeatedly rears its ugly head around President Cyril Ramaphosa and other senior members of his Cabinet, while little to nothing is done about it.
It seems that there is no urgency within the ANC’s power structures to eradicate corruption, but to protect those implicated instead.
The Hawks probed Minister Ntshavheni’s alleged involvement in tender corruption amounting to R2,5 million during her tenure as the Municipal Manager of the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality.
The investigation was launched after Judge Gerrit Muller of the Polokwane High Court labelled the events surrounding the tender as “repulsive and devastating” in 2020 and asked that it be looked into.
In addition, in his report on state capture in 2022, Judge Raymond Zondo implicated the Minister in a deliberate attempt to help the Guptas capture Denel.
She was a board member at Denel in 2015 and served on a so-called risk committee which recommended that three staff members be suspended. According to Judge Zondo, these individuals were suspended to remove an obstacle that stood in the way of the Guptas’ capturing of Denel.
Minister Ntshavheni vehemently denied this and President Ramaphosa later appointed her in the pivotal and senior position of Minister in the Presidency.
With regard to the latest allegations, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) should not drag its feet until the matter fades into the background. Prosecution should not be delayed.
Moreover, President Ramaphosa may not simply transfer her to another position, as he did with the former Justice Minister, Thembi Simelane.
After serious allegations of corruption were levelled against Simelane in the media last year, President Ramaphosa simply redeployed her as the Minister of Human Settlements.
The President is now part of a Government of National Unity (GNU) and needs to demonstrate that he takes his promises to eradicate corruption seriously by immediately suspending the Minister pending the outcome of the case.