CHARLES MOLELE
SUPPORTERS of ANC secretary Ace Magashule believe law enforcement agencies such as the Hawks, the SIU Special Tribunal and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are deliberately being used to target President Cyril Ramaphosas’ opponents within the ANC.
This comes after high-profile arrests of seven suspects in the R255 million asbestos corruption case, including former Free State Human Settlements MEC, Olly Mlamleli.
Former ANC MP Vincent Smith was also arrested after he handed himself over to the police for allegedly accepting bribes from corruption-accused company Bosasa.
Smith was granted a bail of R30 000 at the specialised commercial crimes court at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
While the ongoing investigations to establish linkages between patronage networks were welcomed by many, Magashule’s supporters believe there is bias in the arrests and accused the Hawks, SIU Special Tribunal and the NPA of applying the law inconsistently and selectively.
They cited among others that a JSE-listed company was caught, investigated, found guilty and fined for excessive pricing and yet no ‘Hollywood-style’ arrests were made by the Hawks.
“Again, why arrest Smith and not Gwede Mantashe who admitted that he benefitted from the R300 000 he received from Bosasa to upgrade security at his homes in the form of CCTV installation and electric fencing,” said two senior ANC leaders, who spoke to Inside Politics on condition of anonymity.
“Money was deposited by a controversial businessman [Edwin Sodi] into the bank accounts of Zizi Kodwa, Paul Mashatile, Zweli Mkhize and Thulas Nxesi and yet they were not arrested or questioned by the police. Former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko and her husband are scheduled to appear before the SIU Special Tribunal but have not been arrested. This raises serious questions about the conduct of our law enforcement agencies.”
On Friday, Mkhize denied Sodi’s claims at the Zondo Commission that money was allegedly paid into his personal bank accounts.
“I once again state categorically that the above payments were deposited directly into ANC’s official bank accounts, I therefore can only assume that the name Zweli Mkhize was used by the donor as a reference, given my capacity at the time as the Treasurer General,” said Mkhize.
“I further confirm that outside of having noted Mr Sodi as a donor to the ANC during my tenure as TG, I have no personal, professional or business relationship with him. I have never been party to any of his business dealings nor have I interacted with him at a personal level.”
Reacting to recent arrests of top ANC officials, political analyst Xolani Dube said in an interview with the SABC that this was “another marketing gimmick where a particular faction is chasing tadpoles and really not after the bullfrogs of corruption.”
“What we are witnessing is a strategy of ANC strategy of catch and release. We are seeing government machinery going all out and doing PR on behalf of government because people have been saying this president is not doing anything about corruption. This Hollywood-style arrests without any proper substance and evidence of taking those people behind custody [is a concern].”
Political analyst Professor Tinyiko Maluleke also described the arrests over allegations of fraud and corruption related to tender irregularities as encouraging but says they will mean nothing if the suspects are not successfully prosecuted.
“It is clear that what we have seen this week is a massive, massive improvement on what we have expected for a long time to be done by the hawks and the state agencies. The arrest of people is only the beginning and of itself it is not enough; there is a long road to be travelled where conviction must happen and successful conviction in particular so the follow through is much more important,” said Maluleke.
Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela told the SABC a the weekend that she was alarmed by the high profile arrests in the R255 million asbestos corruption case.
Ntombela said she has also noted with concern the damning evidence presented at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry in Johannesburg.
Ntombela’s spokesperson, Sello Pietersen, said the law must take its course.
“What the Premier is saying is that all of us, we need to give our courts the space because we should not presume anybody guilty at this point. And she’s basically saying officials of government who are currently implicated on the matter are currently placed on the precautionary suspension pending the internal investigations which are currently taking place within the department,” said Pietersen.
Also this week, a senior official in the Molemole Municipality in Limpopo Province was arrested in connection with the theft and fraud of R4.8 million related to an irregularly awarded farming tender and in KwaZulu-Natal businessman Thoshan Panday and policeman Navin Madhoe appeared in court in connection with alleged fraud and corruption relating to a R47 million during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
(COMPILED BY INSIDE POLITICS STAFF)
