Parks safe, but ANC ousts mayors of other metros
FORMER cabinet minister Thoko Didiza is set to be named as the ANC’s mayoral candidate for the capital city following a consultative meeting with party branches later today.
Luthuli House last night proposed her name as a compromise following disagreements over who should be its candidate in the hotly contested Tshwane metro.
Party leaders will today meet branches to inform them of the proposal and to let them choose between Didiza and former Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa.
The Sunday Times can today reveal that Didiza was chosen as a compromise candidate last night as the Gauteng leadership was not satisfied with the names submitted by their regional structures.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe announced last night that an NEC delegation would be dispatched to communicate an NEC ‘intervention’ in Tshwane to ANC branches.
Although Didiza’s name has not been submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission as a candidate, Mantashe said the party’s proportional representation list could be amended after the elections.
Mantashe said two names would be taken to the branches today, but refused to make them public.
But the Sunday Times can reveal that the NEC delegation would present the
FORMER ANC MP Vytjie Mentor has filed corruptionrelated charges against three cabinet ministers and the Gupta family three weeks after the ANC closed its investigation into the family’s influence on the state.
Mentor, who snubbed the ANC investigation, this week joined the chorus calling the probe led by Gwede Mantashe a whitewash and a waste of time.
Instead of submitting a written statement to Mantashe as requested, Mentor last month filed corruption-related charges with the police against Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies and Minister of Defence Nosiviwe MapisaNqakula.
She also lodged corruptionrelated charges against stateowned weapons manufacturer Denel and the Industrial Development Corporation.
And she told the Sunday Times she was considering going to the police with a charge against President Jacob Zuma.
“I am also thinking about the president. But I don’t just jump into decisions. I have not yet found good reason to charge the president. He is very smart. But something happened on a trip to China — something I observed, an attempt at coercion. I refused to attend a certain meeting,” said Mentor, without elaborating.
Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed that the unit was investigating Mentor’s allegations.
Mentor, who is not optimistic about the prospects of her charges reaching the courts, made headlines earlier this year when she alleged that the Guptas had offered her a ministerial post during a meeting at their Saxonwold compound.
It had been expected that, as a member of the ANC, she would present evidence to Mantashe when the national executive committee ordered the party secretary-general to investigate claims about the family’s undue influence.
However, only Themba Maseko, former CEO of the Government Communication and Information System, submitted a written statement to Mantashe.
Mentor made a statement to the police on May 9 from her Cape Town home.
It was handed to the provincial head of the Hawks in the Western Cape, Advocate Nombuso Portia Khoza, who escalated the matter to the national head office of the Hawks in Pretoria.
“I decided not to take part in the ANC internal investigation because it is ridiculous and it was clearly not an earnest effort. The intention is to pull the wool over people’s eyes, to buy time and to test how much people know,” said Mentor.
“Themba Maseko participated in the ANC investigation out of honesty, but he should have assessed the situation.
“I’m not stupid. It [the ANC investigation] is a waste of time.
“What about non-ANC people? We need a neutral investigation. There is no intention to widen the net,” said Mentor.
She also voiced doubts about the Hawks.
Mulaudzi said Mentor’s statement was a “confidential document forming part of an ongoing inquiry”.
Brown said she welcomed any investigation that would bring closure to the persistent rumours regarding the Denel case. She also warned people against unfounded rumourmongering.
Davies said the Industrial Development Corporation did not fall under his department.
In reaction, the Ministry of Defence said Mapisa-Nqakula had not been contacted by the police and was unaware that a complaint of corruption had been filed.
I have not yet found good reason to charge the president. He is very smart I decided not to take part in the ANC internal investigation because it is ridiculous
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