Madonsela to probe Ramokgopa for graft

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is to investigate allegations that Tshwane mayor Kgosientsho Ramokgopa used state funds and resources to campaign for re-election as chairman of the ANC's Tshwane region.

Ramokgopa has been accused of appointing a 30-man team to work from his office to canvass support for him ahead of the ANC's Tshwane regional conference, which took place in Pretoria at the weekend.

Yesterday, Ramokgopa emerged victorious, beating the ANC Women's League's Jacky Mofokeng by 472 votes to 73.

Days before theconference, a group of employees in the municipality's supply-chain management and legal services departments asked the Public Protector, the Special Investigations Unit and the municipality's speaker, Morakane Mosupye, to investigate allegations of corruption and mismanagement against Ramokgopa. They also asked them to investigate alleged misconduct by officials regarded as Ramokgopa "loyalists".

Momelezi Kula, an executive manager in the Public Protector's office, confirmed that Madonsela will investigate the claims.

Marika Muller, the Special Investigating Unit's acting head of communications, said: "We received a document in mid-September with allegations relating to our general investigation at Tshwane. We are reviewing them."

The "concerned employees" alleged, among other things, that Ramokgopa appointed a "rapid response team" to, "on the face of it", help the municipality collect data on informal settlements to help it provide formal housing.

"In reality, [these] people are paid over R7500 a month and given cellphones paid for by the municipality. The group [comprises] hand-picked loyalists of the mayor [and] is used to canvass support for [him] in preparation for the regional conference," the document reads.

It is also alleged that the housing department, which is responsible for the "formalisation" of informal settlements, was ordered to fund the team from its budget - even though the department had no idea what it did.

The memorandum claims that the team was sent to ANC branch general meetings to select delegates to the regional conference who were loyal to Ramokgopa, whereas those who did not support him were not invited to the conference.

It questions why the municipality failed to take action against councillors who had been criminally charged, including one who was denied bail after being arrested in connection with the murder of her brother.

Insiders say that Ramokgopa and outgoing regional secretary Elias Motloutse did not see eye-to-eye on Ramokgopa's style of leadership.

Members of 70 of the region's 81 branches boycotted the conference and held a rival meeting at the Justice College, central Pretoria.

They said 40 branches had objected to the way in which the party's branch general meetings were conducted but a protest at Luthuli House last week failed to move the ANC to postpone what the branches viewed as a "tainted" conference.