The 11 Public Works officials charged for rampant overspending and flouting of tender regulations on Nkandla may now all plead guilty, seeking to protect their pensions and avoid protracted hearings. Earlier, they had indicated they would plead not guilty.
It emerged at the weekend that Pretoria director of projects Itumeleng Molosi was let off with a two-month suspension without pay and a final written warning after pleading guilty to irregularly appointing contractors and flouting procurement procedures.
Had Molosi been found guilty rather than signing a plea deal he would have forfeited his pension.
Opposition parties have reacted strongly, calling for the officials to stick to their original not guilty stance, and saying the guilty plea would not exonerate President Jacob Zuma.
On Monday Public Servants’ Association labour officer Roshan Lil-Ruthan said he thought Molosi’s penalty was harsh because “none of the employees benefited financially from the project and they told the Special Investigating Unit that they were pressured by their supervisors to fast-track the project”.
The disciplinary hearings began in Durban in September and Molosi’s case was the first to be concluded.
T
he SIU report found that Molosi and his colleagues Rakesh Dhaniram, Bheki Dlamini and Thuli Ngubane approved the appointment of contractor E Magubane CC in June 2011.
The contractor was to be paid R9.6 million but ended up receiving R10.8m for installing electronic security systems at Zuma’s rural KwaZulu-Natal home.
In September Lil-Ruthan told The Mercury that all the officials intended pleading not guilty and that the disciplinary hearings were nothing more than the department looking for “scapegoats” to blame for the scandal.
But on Monday he said this could change.
“I’m not sure whether some of them will choose to plead guilty because I haven’t met them recently since we (the PSA) closed for the holidays,” he said.
Lil-Ruthan said Molosi’s plea was a “brave step” and he thought the co-accused might consider the same route to fast-track their cases.
“These hearings have brought tension and anxiety to our members. They obviously want the whole thing to be over, but it is also important to consider the future implications of either pleading guilty or being found guilty,” he said.
The PSA would now analyse transcripts of Molosi’s case to see if the remaining officials were implicated in his plea and if they needed to re-strategise their defence.
The EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said it was “a travesty” that Zuma was being “protected” through the charges brought against the officials. He urged the remaining 11 officials not to plead guilty, pledging the support of the EFF and other opposition parties.
“In the end, Zuma will not be held accountable. The issue is being buried by destroying people’s careers. We reaffirm our position that the officials must not stand down and instead stand their ground. The opposition parties, including the EFF, are willing to stand by them; they do not have to be scared. They must stand up for the truth.”
His sentiments were echoed by the IFP’s Narend Singh, who said the guilty plea did not exonerate Zuma from paying for non-security upgrades.
“Not all the work that was done was part of the security upgrades and the president must do the right thing and acknowledge that he unduly benefited from the project and pay back some of the taxpayers’ money,” he said.
The DA’s spokesman on public works, James Masango, said while the party acknowledged the findings of the SIU, it wanted the recommendations in the initial report issued by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to be adhered to.
“The junior officials’ guilty plea will be for not following open tender processes and obviously that was against the regulations. However, we want Zuma to take responsibility for the money that was spent on things like the swimming pool, kraal and chicken run which had nothing to do with security,” he said.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said Molosi’s suspension was welcomed and dealt with what the party viewed as the unlawful escalation of costs.
“The suspension of an official, or officials, is what we called for. Someone must be responsible for the unexpected escalation,” Kodwa said.
- The Mercury
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