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President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, no longer has the power to discipline the suspended director general of public works, Sam Vukela.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa awarded it to Presiding Minister Jackson Mthembu.
- Vukela was suspended after a The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) investigation report implicated him in allegations of fraudulent contract management and irregular payments in the planning of three state funerals.
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, no longer has the mandate to discipline the suspended director general of public works, Sam Vukela, after President Cyril Ramaphosa withdrew his powers of delegation and granted them to the minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu.
This led to Vukela’s court offer to intercept his pending disciplinary investigation to be vacated in Pretoria High Court.
In his explanatory affidavit on behalf of Ramaphosa, the presidency’s top state legal counsel, Geofrey Mphaphuli, said Ramaphosa removed De Lille as deputy authority after considering Vukela’s request.
Mphaphuli said:
When considering the applicant’s application, the second respondent [Ramaphosa] has taken the decision to reassign the corresponding delegation of authority to Jackson Mthembu, the Minister of the Presidency, to play a supervisory role in the disciplinary proceedings initiated against the applicant [Vukela].
Ramaphosa believed that this would be best for all parties.
“And it will ensure that the disciplinary process is fair and is considered fair and that it can proceed in order to be firm on the allegations made against the applicant.”
READ | De Lille in court documents: suspended director general of public works who tries to circumvent the disciplinary process
Vukela was suspended after a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) implicated him in allegations of managing fraudulent contracts and irregular payments in planning the state funerals of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Dr. Zola Skweyiya and Ambassador Billy Modise.
Vukela, in turn, claimed that De Lille gave him illegal instructions and his refusal to carry out these instructions caused friction between the two.
He claimed that De Lille put undue pressure on officials working on the Beitbridge border fence projects.
De Lille denied the Beitbridge border allegations, but admitted, in court documents, that he once identified a service provider (for media services) but did not give instructions for them to flout procurement regulations.
READ HERE | De Lille admits that he identified a service provider, but did not instruct anyone to break the law.
Its role in the Beitbridge border tender had also been questioned.
Last month, News24 reported that the National Treasury hinted that De Lille “had a contract, supplier or contractor in mind” for the Rand 40 million Beitbridge border fence project.
The Treasury expressed concern about the De Lille directive, stating that the department’s chief financial officer (CFO) “should be informed about the costs” of the project, as costs were normally determined on the basis of needs (from a visit to the place) and quantity lists. .
During a meeting with the Permanent Committee of Public Accounts of Parliament (Scopa), the general director of the Treasury, Dondo Mogajane, asked: “if the financial director is going to be advised, the question is who and when what happened happened.”
The appointment of Ramaphosa from Mthembu to oversee the disciplinary process would ensure that the process runs smoothly, Mphaphuli told the court.
“As stated above, no relief is requested against Ramaphosa in relation to the delegation. In any event, it appears from the applicant’s affidavit that his application was to consider the history of the relationship between the applicant and the first defendant and reconsider the decision delegated authority in that context. Therefore, the appointment of Minister Mthembu will ensure that the disciplinary process is handled fairly and quickly, “said Mphaphuli.
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