Pule expected to be booted from cabinet

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Dina Pule could soon lose her job following scandals involving her boyfriend, Phosane Mngqibisa. The talk in ANC and government circles is that Pule will be sacked as part of a cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma.

The Sunday Times understands that Zuma recently met Pule, but details of their discussion are unclear and neither Zuma nor Pule's offices responded to queries about her possible dismissal.

It will be easy for Zuma to fire Pule, because she wields less political power since losing her place in the influential ANC national executive committee.

Last year the Sunday Times reported that Pule's boyfriend had withdrawn large sums from the bank account of a company appointed to organise a communications conference. The ICT Indaba had been commissioned by the Department of Communications.

Mngqibisa allegedly bought Pule a pair of designer shoes with some of the R27.5-million that the minister had encouraged sponsors to contribute to the indaba.

Mngqibisa was also paid R6-million in management fees for his role in organising the event in June last year.

Although Zuma is not expected to make major changes to the cabinet, he is said to be planning to move a few ministers to new portfolios.