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Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has denied receiving 6.5 million rand in donations from controversial businessman Edwin Sodi during his tenure as general treasurer of the ANC.
“I wish to state categorically that I have never received funds from Mr. Sodi, either personally or through third parties intended for my personal benefit. I can confirm that during my tenure as General Treasurer of the ANC, Mr. Sodi, like many other individuals, companies and business organizations, made donations to the ANC, ”Mkhize said in a statement on Friday.
He said that when he took over as general treasurer, “Sodi’s contacts were available in the ANC’s donor database as one of the people who had previously donated to the ANC.”
Last week, TimesLIVE reported that Mkhize’s name was among the ANC leaders receiving payments from Sodi’s company, Blackhead Consulting, which gets most of its business from human settlements departments in Gauteng and the Free State.
Other names raised were Labor and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi, ANC General Treasurer Paul Mashatile, and Deputy Ministers Pinky Kekana and Zizi Kodwa.
Sodi, who appeared last week in the state’s capture investigation, was asked about several flagged payments from his company with references to several high-ranking ANC leaders and the party itself.
Sodi referred to the ANC leaders mentioned as “my friend” or “business partner” and admitted that he made a “generous” donation to the ANC, particularly during the 2014 election campaign.
Mkhize said that Sodi, either directly or through his entities, made the following donations to the ANC:
- R3m on February 28, 2014;
- R3.5m on April 3, 2014;
- R1.5m on September 29, 2015 and;
- R150,000 on January 8, 2016
“Once again I categorically state that the above payments were deposited directly into the official bank accounts of the ANC, therefore I can only assume that the name Zweli Mkhize was used by the donor as a reference, given my capacity at the time as treasurer. general .
“Also, I want to emphasize that all donations we receive [were] Volunteers, they were never transactional or tied to getting government jobs, ”Mkhize said.
He denied having a personal or business relationship with Sodi.
“I have never been a part of any of his businesses nor have I interacted with him on a personal level.”
Mkhize said that he had also noticed a “nonsensical” statement from the district attorney that he would denounce him to parliament because of these donations made to the ANC.
“In the process of doing so, it would help the Prosecutor’s Office to try to properly understand the rules of parliament. At the time the ANC received these donations, I was the general treasurer, with the specific function of raising funds for my organization. I was not a member of parliament and, in any case, I did not directly benefit from these donations from Mr. Sodi.
“Therefore, there is no parliamentary requirement for me to declare all donations that the ANC received during my tenure as general treasurer.
“It is also worth mentioning that where illegality and misconduct have been found, law enforcement agencies should investigate this,” Mkhize said.
TimesLIVE
