Tuesday, 21 January 2025.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) strongly condemns the brazen and corrupt interference by the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, in the affairs of the Independent Development Trust (IDT). His actions not only undermine the integrity of this vital entity but also expose the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) true intentions to use state institutions to serve the interests of white minority capital.

In December 2024, Minister Macpherson sent an email to a Programme Manager at the IDT, instructing her to facilitate payment to Lonerock Construction. This company was appointed by the IDT to rehabilitate sinkholes at Waterkloof Airforce Base as part of a project managed on behalf of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI). The payment in question was linked to a variation order exceeding 20% of the project’s original scope. As per regulations, such changes required approval from National Treasury and the DPWI before the IDT could process any payments.

Despite the IDT staff explaining these necessary steps to the contractor, Lonerock Construction continued to press for immediate payment. Rather than addressing these procedural concerns through proper channels, Minister Macpherson bypassed the IDT’s executive leadership and board, choosing instead to email a junior staff member to demand a report on the payment delays. This direct intervention blurred the lines of authority and undermined the IDT’s established governance structures.

It is evident that the Minister’s actions were intended to prioritise the interests of Lonerock Construction, disregarding due process and the financial integrity of the IDT.

Such interference sets a dangerous precedent and raises serious questions about the Minister’s motives. This calculated manoeuvring casts doubt on the Minister’s intentions and reflects his disregard for the IDT’s operational autonomy.

One of the most pressing issues currently facing the IDT is the alleged irregularities surrounding an R800 million tender for the installation of PSA Oxygen Plants at 55 public hospitals across South Africa. The IDT, acting as the implementing agent for the Department of Health, reportedly followed due process, receiving approval and funding confirmation from the Global Fund. However, Minister Macpherson has used this tender as a pretext for instituting investigations, while simultaneously issuing directives that favour white contractors.

Rather than addressing the pressing concerns of the IDT—including its inability to pay dozens of small and black contractors—Minister Macpherson has chosen to focus on investigating alleged irregularities while simultaneously directing payments to a whiteowned contractor. This selective intervention raises serious questions about his motives and demonstrates a blatant disregard for the principles of fairness and equity.

The DA has long claimed to represent good governance, transparency, and the rule of law. However, under its leadership, we see a troubling replication of state capture practices, where powerful figures manipulate state institutions for personal and political gain. Minister Macpherson’s alleged actions—going so far as to bypass the CEO of the IDT and interfere directly with operations—are nothing short of an abuse of power.

Disturbingly, there are also reports of a malicious campaign to tarnish the reputation of the IDT’s CEO, seemingly in a calculated attempt to replace them with a DA-aligned deployee. This is a tactic straight out of the ANC’s playbook, which the DA has publicly condemned in the past. The hypocrisy is staggering.

The EFF reiterates that state capture is not confined to the ANC. The DA has shown, through this scandal and others, that it is equally committed to manipulating state institutions to benefit white private business interests. This is not a new revelation—

Helen Zille herself has admitted to the DA’s alignment with white capital, and President Cyril Ramaphosa has been complicit in advancing this agenda.

All these actions by Minister Dean Macpherson represent gross levels of corruption.

The DA’s commitment to meddling in tenders and practicing cadre deployment, places them in the same ranks as their Grand-Coalition partner, as in his attempts to meddle in tender payments, undermine National Treasury variation regulations, undermine the institutional autonomy of the IDT and appoint his DA-cronies, Macpherson has violated the Executive Members Ethics Act, 1998, which governs the conduct of members of the Cabinet, Deputy Ministers and members of provincial Executive Councils.

Accordingly, the Secretary General of the EFF, Commissar Marshall Dlamini will open a criminal case of corruption against the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson, under the following details:

Date:   Wednesday, 22 January 2025

Time:   10:00am

Venue: SAPS Pretoria Central Police Station, 137 Pretorius St, Pretoria Central, Pretoria

The EFF will not stand by as state institutions are captured and abused to serve the interests of a privileged few, by racists who are emboldened by the former liberation movement to be corrupt.