Former Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku is confident he will fight off a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report into Covid-19 tender corruption that led to his removal.
Masuku’s lawyer, Mojalefa Motalane, said on Sunday the SIU report was unlawful and unconstitutional. His comments came after the Sunday Times reported at the weekend that Masuku had launched an urgent court application to set aside adverse findings against him..
“We have no doubt that, finally, a fair and impartial court of law will find in our client’s favour and grant our client the relief he seeks so that ... justice can be done and be seen to be done,” Motalane said.
The findings of the first SIU report against Masuku reached “untruthful and unsubstantiated conclusions which were based on illogical inferences, suppositions and conjecture”, he said.
“The lack of a factual and/or evidentiary foundation for the impugned findings heightens the injustice that our client has suffered and continues to suffer.”
This comes as the ANC in Gauteng announced that Masuku and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, will face the party’s provincial disciplinary committee regarding the coronavirus contract scandal. They will have to step aside from all organisational activities.
The party has not said what charges they will face.
Earlier in October, Gauteng premier David Makhura announced he was firing Masuku after the SIU found he had failed to execute his functions in compliance with the constitution and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in his oversight of the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE). The SIU, however, is still investigating whether there was collusion or corruption in awarding the contracts.
The PPE was needed by the provincial government to help curb the spread of Covid-19.
We have no doubt that finally, a fair and impartial court of law, will find in our client’s favour.
The probe into the tenders awarded to companies to provide PPE was a huge blow to Makhura’s anti-corruption focus in the province, which included the operation of an open tender system for the past five years. But the PPE tenders were awarded under emergency procurement and therefore not subject to that system.
Masuku was pulled into the saga after it was reported that a company, of which presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko’s husband was a director, was awarded two contracts by the Gauteng health department.
It was alleged that the friendship between the Dikos and Masukus influenced the decision to award the contracts, which Diko said were subsequently cancelled.
Diko has been on a leave of absence from the presidency since July.
Makhura, when announcing Masuku’s removal, said he would not immediately fill the position of health MEC in Gauteng as the SIU was still investigating the matter.
He said if Masuku was cleared he would consider reappointing him. The ANC in the province, however, told Makhura he had to make an appointment as soon as possible to stabilise the provincial health department.
Motalane said his client was ready to face the ANC disciplinary process and would respect the decision of the provincial executive committee.
– BusinessLIVE
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