Dipuo Peters’ sanction ‘was in line with the misdeed’
• Ramaphosa defends one-month suspension of minister
President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended his one-month suspension without pay of deputy small business development minister Dipuo Peters, which opposition parties say was too lenient a sanction for her actions.
In a question-and-answer session with MPs in the National Assembly, the president said the sanction was commensurate with the actions Peters was found to have committed as well as the sanction that the assembly decided to impose on her.
Parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members interests found that Peters’ failure to appoint a group CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) breached the code of ethics in that she failed to discharge her duties in terms of the constitution, to parliament and the public by placing her own interests above the public interest. The Prasa board had already commissioned a recruitment process. Peters’ failure resulted in a loss of R1,8m.
Peters was found to have breached the code when she dismissed the Prasa board on the day that its chair, Popo Molefe, wrote to parliament’s portfolio committee on transport. The high court ruled this dismissal as irrational, unreasonable and unlawful.
The committee also found that Peters breached the code when she requested Prasa buses be used for the ANC for celebrations in January 2015, which were not paid for.
An allegation made in the complaint to the committee against Peters by #UniteBehind leader and activist Zackie Achmat was that she dismissed the board seemingly because it had uncovered R14bn in irregular expenditure and had instituted investigations into corruption at Prasa. It was also alleged that Peters attempted to stop investigations into corruption at Prasa initiated by the Molefe board.
Peters’ one-month suspension without pay became effective on February 28 and followed the finding by parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members interests that Peters had breached the code of ethical conduct in her former portfolio as minister of transport which she held between 2013 and 2017.
The National Assembly accepted the committee’s recommendation to suspend Peters from all parliamentary business for one term. Peters’ urgent application to the Western Cape High Court to stop parliament implementing her suspension was dismissed.
Ramaphosa responded to a question by Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald who wanted to know why the president had not removed Peters from office in line with good governance and his fight against corruption. This would have happened in most democracies when a member of the executive undermined public trust, said Groenewald.
Ramaphosa replied that this administration placed a premium on good governance, due process and the rule of law. “In my view the sanction imposed on her was commensurate with the breaches this house found her to have committed over and above the sanctions imposed by this house. Other current members of the executive implicated by the state capture commission have not been charged or found wanting in terms of ethical breaches by anybody or entity at this stage. Any actions that I take in respect to members of the executive about whom the commission made findings will be informed by the outcomes of the processes undertaken by relevant entities.”
DA leader John Steenhuisen questioned Ramaphosa’s commitment to fighting corruption when allegations were made against deputy president Paul Mashatile and when the house of deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, was searched by the Hawks after allegations of corruption.
Ramaphosa was also questioned about lifestyle audits of members of the executive, which he said had taken an inordinately long time but were now reaching finality. Steenhuisen pointed out the president had promised lifestyle audits in 2018.
The president replied to a question by IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa that he had fully implemented the recommendations of the Zondo commission which were being investigated by law enforcement agencies. Any action against members of the executive would be based on the evidence and facts established by the investigations by these agencies. “It is not true that nothing has been done,” Ramaphosa said.
PETERS’ APPLICATION TO THE WESTERN CAPE HIGH COURT TO STOP PARLIAMENT IMPLEMENTING HER SUSPENSION WAS DISMISSED