SOUTH AFRICAN president Jacob Zuma yesterday moved to silence critics who claim he is too soft on government corruption when he sacked two ministers found guilty of unlawful activity by the public protector.
During a press briefing in Pretoria that would have sent shockwaves through the ruling African National Congress party, Mr Zuma also announced the suspension of the chief of police pending the outcome of an investigation into “unlawful” police lease agreements.
The sacking of public works minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde and co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Sicelo Shiceka came following the release of two separate reports by public protector Thuli Madonsela that found they acted unlawfully.
Ms Madonsela recently found that Ms Mahlangu-Nkabinde’s decision to approve a number of multimillion-euro leases for police headquarters in Pretoria and Durban amounted to maladministration, as she had been legally advised to the contrary.
She also found that Mr Shiceka had spent more than €100,000 of taxpayers’ money in travel costs on himself, his staff and friends, which violated the executive ethics code. This included a trip to see a girlfriend in a Swiss jail on drug-related charges.
Police commissioner Gen Bheki Cele was also mentioned by the public protector in relation to the lease scandal. However, many people questioned whether Mr Zuma, who was only cleared of corruption charges in 2009 in relation to a government arms procurement deal in the late 1990s, would have the appetite to tackle a senior ANC man from KwaZulu-Natal, his own province.
For months civil society groups and South Africa’s opposition parties have called on Mr Zuma to act on the findings contained in Ms Madonsela’s reports, warning that to do nothing would send the message that high-level corruption was acceptable in the ANC.
Mr Zuma’s silence was taken as a sign of indecision or poor leadership, but yesterday he proved his doubters wrong.
“In August, I informed the national commissioner, Gen Bheki Cele, of my intention to institute a board of inquiry to look into the allegations of misconduct, in relation to the procurement of office accommodation for the South African police service,” he said.
“I have also decided to suspend the national commissioner from duty with immediate effect, pending the outcome of the inquiry.” While Mr Zuma’s announcement was applauded by opposition parties, he was criticised by some for the amount of time he took to take action.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille, welcoming the decision, said “it was better late than never”.
African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe added: “What we still want to see happen is Mr Shiceka paying back the taxpayers’ money”.