Minister washes hands of EFF’s beef
• ‘Up to authorities’ to probe claims about Acsa board
Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi said he was “not sure” if any directors at the Airports Company SA were linked to the Gupta family, but if they were it should be investigated by the relevant authorities.
Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi says he is “not sure” if any directors at the Airports Company SA (Acsa) are linked to the Gupta family, but if they are, it should be investigated by the relevant authorities.
The EFF claims some of the directors are “pawns” and “henchmen” of the Guptas and has threatened to go to court to have them removed.
“If ever somebody is linked [to the Guptas] let the matter be referred to relevant structures that deal with investigations. If those people need to be brought before the court, let that be done,” said Maswanganyi.
“I can’t judge that so and so is linked to so and so .... It doesn’t work like that in SA,” he said while briefing journalists on the state of the 12 state-owned enterprises that fall under the Department of Transport including Acsa, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA and the South African National Roads Agency.
Speaking about the performance of these entities, Maswanganyi said their heads would be held accountable for performance, but they were doing fine at present.
He said Acsa had achieved 96% of its target for the 2015-16 financial year, up from 89% the previous year.
Four board members were fired in February by former transport minister Dipuo Peters after they either failed or refused to submit to a skills audit.
Among the four were Kenosi Moroka, Chwayita Mabude and Jabu Luthuli, whose names appeared in the Gupta e-mail leaks. Shortly after President Jacob Zuma replaced Peters with Maswanganyi, he reinstated the four.
On Friday, Maswanganyi refused to answer questions about why he reinstated the four directors and what informed his decision, which was in direct opposition to the decision of his predecessor.
Last week, the EFF sent a letter of demand to the minister to remove the four directors.
The party alleged that the Guptas “captured” the Acsa board because the family wanted to benefit from a R51bn runway upgrade project the state entity was about to embark on and to gain control of the luxury terminal at OR Tambo airport owned by Oppenheimer family aviation company Fireblade.
It is understood the Gupta family has set its sights on a R3.5bn tender to upgrade a runway at Cape Town International Airport.
The EFF wants the reinstatement of the directors reviewed by the courts, insisting that their reinstatement is unlawful and their participation in Acsa board activities is irregular. Secretarygeneral Godrich Gardee said on Sunday that counsel was still drawing up legal papers.