Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the bold corruption-busting move by Minister Dean Macpherson as he lays criminal charges against suspended IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka, who featured in a video yesterday passing a brown envelope of R60 000 to a journalist.
But as this corruption-busting move from the DA Minister takes place, the DA is deeply concerned by the continued silence of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works since the release of the PwC forensic report into the R800 million PSA Oxygen Plant project and the precautionary suspension of IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka.
Yesterday I submitted the Daily Maverick exposé and video to the Committee, yet there is no urgency or response. Despite the seriousness of the findings in the PwC report, neither the Chairperson nor any members of the committee from the ANC, EFF, and ActionSA have had any interest in taking the matter up.
This silence is troubling, particularly given the Committee’s constitutional mandate to hold entities to account. Parliament ought to immediately jump into action on its accountability function, when an independent report reveals such glaring corruption.
ActionSA, ANC and EFF Member of Parliament have previously tried to obstruct Minister Dean Macpherson’s efforts to constitute a quorate IDT Board capable of addressing deep governance failures.
Two NGOs took the Minister to court, and lost, and ActionSA even wrote to the President calling for his removal, citing baseless claims of interference. They find themselves deeply embarrassed and exposed today.
The ANC members of Parliament on the Portfolio Committee even attempted to discredit the new Board Chairperson of the IDT and other appointees through unfounded allegations. These actions delayed the governance reforms at the IDT that are now proving so necessary.
Conduct by the Chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Public Works in December 2024 also remains a serious concern.
The ANC Member of Parliament who serves as Chairperson of the Public Works Committee held an unsolicited meeting with the now-suspended CEO of the IDT without the Committee’s knowledge on 13 December 2024, and issued a press statement on behalf of the Committee, without input, agreement or support from members.
That appears to further drive the interests of Malaka, at the cost of transparency and accountability.
In light of recent allegations that the suspended CEO and the IDT spokesperson attempted to bribe a journalist to drop an investigation, and previous tip-offs about “brown envelopes” circulating among individuals with financial ties to IDT projects (including MPs), these earlier actions appear increasingly questionable.
The DA will get to the bottom of the full extent of the rot that the IDT had been at the centre of, under Malaka.
The DA welcomes the decisive steps by the Minister and the Board of the IDT to now fully investigate all previous contracts under Malaka, and to identify and expose corruption therein.
The DA calls for all those implicated in the forensic report to be held fully accountable. This must result in expedited investigations, to ensure those found guilty face the full might of the law.
Minister Macpherson’s public statement today shows that the IDT is under full reform and that the corruption of old is being eradicated. South African needs an IDT that delivers on its development mandate, free from political interference and corrupt influence.
Regards
Edwin Macrae Bath MP
DA Deputy Spokesperson on Public Works and Infrastructure