'Matter of time to see if Minister Ntshavheni would be charged'

News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson joins Bongani Bingwa.

Listen below:

It's six months since the inaugural Government of National Unity (GNU) cabinet lekgotla.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's 'new' ministers gathered in Pretoria on 16 July to formulate a national policy agenda to guide the seventh administration.

At the time, the lekgotla was hailed a success, with the President described as 'buoyant'.

But fast forward to today and it would seem the President has a crisis on his hands.

His cabinet could well be described as becoming a 'rogue's gallery', given how many of his ministers are embroiled in allegations of wrongdoing.

The latest is Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.

News24 reported how the Hawks have finalised their investigation into a R2.5 million tender involving Ntshavheni while she was the municipal manager of Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality in 2009.

"It's a case that has been long in the making and we were also shocked when we recently discovered it."

- Adriaan Basson, Editor-in-chief - News24

Basson explains how in 2009, the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality appointed an audit firm to prepare the financial statements and help the municipality to get its financial affairs in order.

"But [it was] highly irregular in terms of how this firm was appointed and overcharged, ultimately didn't do the work, [but] were still paid."

- Adriaan Basson, Editor-in-chief - News24

Basson says after Ntshavheni had left her position, the audit firm took the municipality to court to claim outstanding fees.

In 2020, a court in Limpopo ordered the municipality to institute a criminal investigation into how the tender had been awarded.

The buck, says Basson, stopped with Ntshaveni and says the case is one of 'classic tender corruption'.

"Municipal managers and CEOs of municipalities carry the purses, so it was up to her."

- Adriaan Basson, Editor-in-chief - News24

"The Hawks have now finalised a probe. They've got all the evidence in a docket. It's on the desk of the DPP in that province."

- Adriaan Basson, Editor-in-chief - News24

"It's now a matter of time; to see if she would indeed be charged."

- Adriaan Basson, Editor-in-chief - News24

The Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters are gunning for Ntshavheni's head, with the DA calling for her to be removed from Cabinet immediately.

The DA spokesperson for state security, Dianne Kohler Barnard, said Ntshavheni could not serve as a minister under such a serious investigation.

She said that members of the executive must be 'fit for purpose and beyond reproach'.

The EFF says Ntshavheni had avoided accountability for years.

Meanwhile, the ANC's Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says this is a trial by the media and claims information is being leaked by people within the Hawks.

Basson's response?

"We're not in the business of tarnishing names. We do the work because we are the watchdogs and we have to inform the public if there's any shred of information on the ministers."

- Adriaan Basson, Editor-in-chief - News24

Creating more than a headache for the President, Ntshaveni joins several of her cabinet colleagues on a list of dishonour including Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane, and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe.

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