A coalition partner and at least two opposition parties want Khumbudzo Ntshavheni out over a corruption case. [Picture: IOL]
President Cyril Ramaphosa will have to deal with Khumbudzo Ntshavheni as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decides the fate of a case against her. The Minister in the Presidency faces allegations of corruption and misconduct during a previous posting of hers.
The allegations stem from her tenure as municipal manager of Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, Limpopo. News24 reported that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as Hawks, concluded an investigation this month.
Ntshavheni is accused of irregularly awarding a R2.5 million tender to Makwande Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors in 2009 for accounting consultancy services. This tender was described by a judge as “repugnant and devastating”.
At least three political parties – Democratic Alliance (DA), uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – have called for her to be held accountable. The DA went as far as to write to Ramaphosa requesting that he dismiss her.
“Mr President, South Africans deserve better than the growing list of crooks in your Cabinet. Do better,” said Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA spokesperson on State Security.
“This is yet another example of an ANC Minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet who he needs to remove for allegations of corruption. Either he was not aware of these allegations, which would be an indictment in itself, or he was aware, which would raise damning questions as to his duty of care as head of the executive,” she said, in a separate statement.
The EFF, meanwhile, claimed Ntshavheni escaped accountability for “numerous scandals”.
“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,” the party said.
The latest, MKP, accused Ramaphosa of selective accountability. It said: “While he acts swiftly to remove those who do not align with his faction, even on minor allegations, he shields close allies like Ntshavheni, despite serious accusations of corruption and mismanagement”.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa was in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. There, he impressed the need for global solidarity, equality and sustainable development.
