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Ace Magashule Photo: Reuters
- Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane acquitted former Free State Prime Minister Ace Magashule on accusations that he violated the executive code of ethics.
- Mkhwebane’s office released 14 investigation reports on Wednesday.
- She said Magashule did not blatantly mislead the provincial legislature regarding the funeral arrangements of a Health MEC, as well as a forensic report regarding the appointment of Letlaka Communications by her office.
Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane acquitted former Free State Prime Minister Ace Magashule of accusations of misleading the provincial legislature.
Mkhwebane’s office released 14 reports on Wednesday.
She said her office investigated whether Magashule twice misled the provincial legislature in its written responses to questions from members of the legislature.
According to Mkhwebane, the complaint, filed by the District Attorney’s Roy Jankielsohn, was related to the involvement of the Prime Minister’s Office in the funeral arrangements for the Health MEC Fundiswa Ngubentombi.
The second was related to the forensic report in relation to the appointment of Letlaka Communications by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Jankielsohn said in his response to the November 20, 2013 question paper on the costs of Ngubentombi’s funeral, that Magashule stated that the degree of involvement of his office was simply to inform relevant ministries, departments and individuals of the details of the funeral. official funeral.
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“Hon. Jankielsohn argued that, in a letter from the former Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office to the Municipal Manager of the Municipality of the District of Fezile Gabi, the degree of participation included instructing, among other things, the municipality to bear the costs to be reimbursed by the provincial government, specifically the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.
“Consequently, the complainant argued that the former prime minister blatantly misled the legislature in his response about his office’s involvement in funeral arrangements, as well as his office’s commitment to ensure that the provincial government reimburses the municipality.”
Jankielsohn also said during a session of the legislature on May 21, 2015, that Magashule denied having knowledge of a National Treasury report on the appointment of Letlaka Communications by his office.
He also said in two responses from former finance ministers on November 15, 2013 and August 14, 2015, respectively, that Magashule was aware of the report and refused to act on the ministers’ recommendations to take criminal action against those implicated.
It was also alleged that Magashule denied knowledge of the report and the ministers’ recommendations in a response dated September 30, 2015.
However, Mkhwebane found that Magashule did not “blatantly mislead the legislature in his response about his office’s involvement in funeral arrangements, as well as his office’s commitment to ensuring that the provincial government reimburses the municipality.”
He said the accusation was unfounded.
However, it found that Sam Mashinini, in his capacity as MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure, misled the legislature in response to questions raised by Jankielsohn regarding the funeral arrangements of the late MEC of Health.
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“Finally, I discovered that Mr. Magashule did not mislead the provincial legislature by denying any knowledge of the JGL Forensic Services report, as well as the recommendation of the finance ministers.”
He said it was established that Magashule acknowledged rather than denied having access to the National Treasury report, and thus could not be found to have misled the legislature.
“It was established that the former prime minister ceded to deny having knowledge of the recommendations to formulate criminal charges against officials implicated in the report of the National Treasury by the former finance ministers during a session of the Legislative Assembly.
“When the aforementioned recommendations were communicated in the legislature, the former prime minister did not have access to the report until the following year. Upon receiving the report, the former prime minister communicated his dissatisfaction with the investigation process as well as with the JGL Forensic Services that conducted the investigation, “said Mkhwebane.
She said that after the National Treasury failed to consider and examine the areas of dissatisfaction, Magashule raised her “dissatisfaction” to Nhlanhla Nene, the former finance minister, warning that due to unresolved issues and other deficiencies in the report, she could not present criminal charges. against officials.
Consequently, it could not be established that the former prime minister deliberately or inadvertently misled the president, or the prime minister or, where appropriate, the legislature, nor could it be established that he acted inconsistently with his position. “
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