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Manhattan as seen from an MTA train approaching the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens, NY. (Fake images)
- DA MP Mergan Chetty said that The financial director of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, as well as the former ambassador to the UN, should face questions about the land deal.
- Ambassador Jerry Matjila, however, returned to South Africa and no longer works for the department.
- Chetty accused Minister Naledi Pandor of acting too slowly.
More heads should roll over a failed R118 million land deal in New York, the prosecutor said.
This follows the precautionary suspension Thursday of the director general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Kgabo Mahoai, more than a year after a parliamentary fact-finding mission discovered that the land it bought for new offices did not exist.
DA MP Mergan Chetty, who was part of the parliamentary delegation in New York, said Mahoai was “for lack of a better word, a smokescreen,” adding that “it was clear that this department had circumvented the regulations of the Treasure “and the behavior was shocking.
Despite rumors that the department’s chief financial officer, Caiphus Ramashau, was also going to be suspended, spokesman Lunga Ngqulunga said Mahoai was the only name mentioned so far that he was suspended.
According to the supervisory report compiled by Parliament’s International Relations and Cooperation Portfolio Committee, the project was launched from Pretoria.
According to the report:
It was said that [Ramashau] and the Chief Director of Property Management [Bernice Africa] would fly in [to New York] hold meetings with real estate agents outside the office and leave without informing the two missions of their discussions on the matter.
MPs noted: “There was no vacant lot in the New York pilot project inspection. What exists is an unsuitable old dilapidated building, and R118 million has already been paid for the purchase of the alleged vacant land / parcel. “.
“It was pointed out that the amount of R118 million had been paid on the basis of a false statement to the department that the real estate agent had bought land to build a suitable and sustainable office building.
“The supply chain management challenges associated with the New York pilot project are a source of diplomatic embarrassment and pose both a representation and reputational risk to the country’s image.”
The report also questioned why then-UN ambassador Jerry Matjila had not met with the committee during his supervisory visit and sent his deputy, Xolisa Mabhongo, in his place.
Matjila was said to be on leave at the time.
He, the report noted, “was the accountant when the acquisition for the New York pilot project was approved in 2016/17,” and was appointed to the mission in New York shortly thereafter.
Mahoai replaced him as CEO.
READ | Naledi Pandor places Dirco CEO Kgabo Mahoai on precautionary suspension
The report noted: “There were still unanswered questions due to the absence of the permanent representative. In order to obtain answers, the committee delegation resolved that it would have to appear before the committee in Cape Town.
“The minister would be asked to determine how his trip would be financed, as he was absent without an official apology, although he knew the committee was traveling to New York to meet him.”
Chetty accused Pandor of lingering on this issue.
South Africa’s two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council came to an end late last year, and Matjila was replaced by Ambassador Mathu Joyini, who presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Antonio Gueterres, on February 3.
READ ALSO | Dirco paid 118 million rand for a piece of land in New York that turned out to be an ‘unsuitable’ old building
Matjila is believed to have been appointed to the UN on a four-year contract as he technically retired in 2016, and it was unclear what he was doing now.
He did not respond to a phone call or WhatsApp message.
As far as is known, no law enforcement agency has been involved, and Ngqulunga said the department was still investigating the matter.
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