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- The ANC Gauteng PEC is expected to deliberate on the fate of the health care MEC Bandile Masuku, his wife Loyiso Masuku and Khusela Diko.
- This as he received a report from the provincial integrity commission on their respective roles in the Gauteng health PPE saga.
- Some in the PEC say the meeting has been postponed multiple times as leaders linked to the three have been pushing for their political survival.
The Gauteng ANC’s integrity commission is said to have made scathing findings against the Bandile Masuku Health MEC and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko over the personal protective equipment procurement scandal.
But News24 understands that there is fierce lobbying behind the scenes to save the political future of the two, and that this has led to the PEC meeting being postponed at least three times.
It is now expected to meet Monday afternoon after a provincial work committee meeting.
“It was discovered that Masuku did not meet the standards that the ANC requires of public representatives. He has done a disservice to the responsibility that the party gave him,” a PEC member told News24.
This informant said that Masuku was found to have failed to act on time when addressing concerns about the procurement processes in his department. Nor had he managed to manage public perceptions on the issue of conflict of interest about the nature of the relationship that he and his wife, Loyiso, had with the Dikos.
It is also understood that the commission felt that Masuku should have practiced better oversight and closer to procurement processes, in light of how pervasive corruption is in the country, and given the fact that his department had just received a big cash injection to get resources to manage the Covid-19 pandemic.
Masuku is said to have been cleared of gross wrongdoing in connection with allegations of corruption.
Another insider told News24 that Sunday’s postponement had occurred an hour before the PEC meeting was due.
“No reason was even provided and now they don’t want to hold this meeting virtually because that would mean not reading the integrity report, but mailing it to us,” a PEC member told News24 anonymously.
Last week, Provincial Secretary Jacob Khawe told News24 that the integrity commission’s report was ready. He said that one of the scheduled PEC meetings was postponed because the provincial president, David Makhura, had to attend a meeting of the national executive committee on local government.
READ MORE | PPE ANC Gauteng scandal says integrity commission report on Masuku, Diko is ready
Diko, the MEC of Health and his wife Loyiso Masuku, who is the corporate and shared services group MMC in the city of Johannesburg, were brought before the integrity commission following reports of the award of a multi-million dollar tender to provide PPE for part of Gauteng Health to Diko’s husband, Chief Madzikane Diko.
‘This is much worse’
Although they have pleaded not guilty, the PEC ordered the Masukus to be absent and for the three to appear before the integrity commission.
News24 revealed in July that MMC and the boss were business partners, after taking over a shell company in 2019.
Another PEC member, who also asked not to be named, said the integrity commission’s report had left Makhura no choice but to fire one of his most trusted allies.
“There is no way we would not pass the report. If Boyce Maneli were to resign from Parliament for not acting against officials … this is much worse. The integrity commission once ruled against Faith (Mazibuko) for speaking out about combined courts, “said the third informant.
He said the PEC was expected to hear a strong argument that Makhura should first fire Masuku from his executive and then there would be discussions about whether he should be removed from the PEC.
“If we have to ignore this report, then we can also say goodbye to Gauteng. There is no way we will win an election if we do not hold these people accountable,” the source said.
Diko took a leave of absence amid growing clamor over her husband’s dealings with the provincial government.
Another source said that they understood that the integrity commission’s report was also scathing towards Diko.
ANC provincial spokesman Bones Modise said that the PEC had pledged that any decision made in the interest of Gauteng residents would be communicated through a press conference.
“So once the integrity commission has finalized its report and it has been submitted to the PEC for consideration and finalization, it will be communicated,” he said.
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