Lerato Mbhiza
President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended Small Business Development Deputy Minister Dipuo Peters.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the suspension follows a sanction adopted by Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests against the Deputy Minister.
“The Committee found that Peters had breached the Code of Ethical Conduct in her former portfolio as Transport Minister,” he said.
Peters has been suspended for a month without pay.
This also comes after #UniteBehind sent a letter to President Ramaphosa urging him to axe Peters for allegedly enabling looting at PRASA.
The letter, signed by #UniteBehind leaders Zackie Achmat and Zukiswa Vuka Fokazi, was sent on Wednesday. It alleged that Peters violated sections of the Constitution that set out the responsibilities of Cabinet members.
It said by failing to ensure the prosecution of corruption at PRASA when she was Minister, Peters grossly violated her duty as the executive authority responsible for PRASA under the Public Finance Management Act.
Last month, Peters failed in her bid to have her suspension lifted by the High Court.
Peters, who is a member of the ANC, was Transport Minister from 2013 to 2017, during which corruption and maladministration, detailed in the Public Protectors 2015 Derailed report, was widespread.
The #UniteBehind letter said it welcomes Parliament’s sanction but it is “wholly inadequate” on its own.
In its 2022 complaint, #UniteBehind alleged that Peters had failed to appoint a group CEO of PRASA when required, irrationally dismissed the PRASA board chaired by Popo Molefe (seemingly because it had uncovered R14-million in irregular expenditure), and authorised the use of PRASA buses for ANC events.
In its letter to the President, #UniteBehind sais Peters failed to investigate and recover the “proceeds of corruption paid into the ANC accounts through third parties in the Swifambo locomotives case”, referring to the allegation that R80-million from the irregular “too tall trains” contract ended up in bank accounts linked to the ANC.
The letter cites a number of reports and investigations into corruption at PRASA, including the Zondo report.
Achmat and Vuka write that the “destruction of the commuter rail system is directly attributable to state capture, corruption, malfeasance, maladministration, fraud and mismanagement which has taken place at PRASA for almost two decades”.
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