Monday, 20 January 2025

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has noted the pronouncement by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), otherwise known as the Hawks, of the conclusion of their investigation into charges and allegations of fraud and corruption against Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.

The investigation by the Hawks comes after charges were laid against Ntshavheni in 2021 in relation to her role in the irregular awarding of a R2.5 million tender for accounting consultancy services during her tenure as the municipal manager of the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality in July 2009. The finalisation of the investigation, which took almost four-years to conclude, means that Ntshavheni’s case now sits with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) which will decide whether to prosecute or not.

The lengthy investigation process, for a transgression committed as far back as 2009, is a reflection of the slow pace of our investigative institutions in handling matters of corruption that involve high-ranking government officials. For decades, Ntshaveni has been safe under Cyril Ramaphosa’s patronage as his lieutenant and has avoided accountability for her numerous scandals over the years because of her close association with the President.

It is public knowledge that Minister Ntshavheni is one of Ramaphosa’s closest confidants, and was at the centre of his 2017 campaign to lead the former ruling party and ascend to the position of President of South Africa. Since she successfully delivered Ramaphosa, she has been awarded with senior roles as a Minister, all of which she has left with a dark cloud of corruption and misuse of taxpayer’s money.

In 2022, it was revealed in the State Capture Commission Report that Ntshaveni as a board member at DENEL, formed part of a nefarious plot to suspend three executive employees at state-owned arms manufacturer, due to their resistance of instructions by the Gupta criminal network. The suspensions on allegations which were never proven, led to these executives being paid millions in a settlement, at the expense of the taxpayer.

During her tenure as the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Ntshavheni and her immediate predecessor Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, were exposed as having spent R15 million on accommodation and travel on themselves, deputies and officials between 2019 and 2022, a period defined by restrictive lockdown regulations globally. Their lavish expenditure in the face of the pandemic, death, suffering, and collapse of businesses went unpunished because of their association with Ramaphosa.

Ntshavheni now sits as a Minister in the Presidency, responsible for government communications and the State Security Agency (SSA). She sits on the war-chest behind Ramaphosa’s political influence in the form of the SSA’s operational funds which are not accounted for, and have in the past been used to fund internal political campaigns within the African National Congress (ANC).

Ntshavheni’s role in the corrupt awarding of a tender in Ba-Phalaborwa Local

Municipality, represents the foundations of what is wrong with local government in South Africa. This includes a lack of capacity to conduct basic functions, reliance on consultants, and the misuse of power by officials in order to influence tenders and practice corrupt activities. Municipal managers have become a law unto themselves in municipalities, and Ntshavheni represents the earliest generation of arrogance and flouting of laws by officials at a local government level.

Ntshavheni also represents the patronage that has defined Ramaphosa’s tenure as President of South Africa, as despite all her failures and sordid corruption, she now presides over State Security with impunity, while the nation fails to combat mass shootings, human, and drug trafficking under her watch.

This is testament to how the claims of renewal and anti-corruption by this government are nothing but lip service, and the people of South Africa must continue to punish the ANC for its arrogance in corruption.

ISSUED BY THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Leigh-Ann Mathys (National Spokesperson) 082 304 7572

Thato Lebyane (Media Enquiries) 078 304 7572