Zwane displays his lack of fitness for public office
Mosebenzi Zwane, ANC MP and former minister, sacrificed any possibility of being able to claim that he was a competent MEC by stating that he had no direct knowledge of legislation governing procurement processes in a R1.4bn housing project under his watch in the Free State. On day 271 at the state capture inquiry, the facts presented by Zwane paint a picture of a politician who did not acquaint himself with the most basic legislation governing part of the work that he had to do as MEC.
Mosebenzi Zwane, ANC MP and former minister, sacrificed any possibility of being able to claim that he was a competent MEC by stating that he had no direct knowledge of legislation governing procurement processes in a R1.4bn housing project under his watch in the Free State.
On day 271 at the state capture commission of inquiry, deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo and evidence leader Paul Pretorius often tried to determine what Zwane’s knowledge was of the procurement process for the housing project embarked on in 2010.
Zwane was the Free State MEC of human settlements at the time, while ANC secretarygeneral Ace Magashule was the premier.
The facts presented to the commission by Zwane on Friday paint a picture of a politician who did not acquaint himself with the most basic legislation governing part of the work that he had to do as MEC.
One of the main issues with the housing tender was that no open tendering was followed to determine the successful bidders. Zwane said while an open tender process was initially embarked, it was abandoned after the tender period had expired. Officials in the department then suggested to him that a database of suppliers to do the work on the houses be created without going through a tender process.
Pretorius put it to Zwane that one “cannot give contracts for the expenditure of state funds for the construction of houses without going through a proper procurement process. Did no-one say that to you?”
“It is them [the officials] that suggested [it], chair,” Zwane said.
NO-ONE OBJECTED
Zwane did not just throw the officials under the bus. It was his predecessors, he said, that throughout the years had used such databases, and as a newcomer he agreed with that process as long as it would help the department to progress. When using a database was discussed at a provincial executive committee meeting, which Magashule attended as premier, noone objected to it, he said.
Pretorius asked whether Zwane was aware that it is unlawful to appoint a contractor from such as database without a formal tender process.
“No, I was not aware of it … I was told that this has been the process that has been followed. I even asked … is it a PFMA [Public Finance Management Act] process? They told me it is a process under [the] Housing Act,” Zwane responded.
Despite a process being followed that he was told was derived from the act, Zwane did not go to the trouble to read the act. He thus did not know what the act stipulated, despite it being central in describing his duties as MEC.
“Now you say that you were assured by officials that this was lawful. Did you check that?”
Pretorius asked. “No, I did not check it, chair,” Zwane said.
He was unaware of what was required of him, he said, and blindly followed his officials’ word instead of reading the legislation himself, or obtaining legal advice to determine whether the process that would be followed to spend R1.4bn was lawful.
In the best-case scenario, Zwane was just incompetent as an MEC, but he is not alone in failing to comply with basic legislation. According to the 2018/2019 auditor-general’s report for the national and provincial governments and their entities, irregular expenditure increased to R62.60bn, from R51bn in 2017/2018.
Irregular expenditure occurs when there is any noncompliance with legislation in the process leading up to payment. If, for example, the procurement process for awarding a construction contract does not comply with legislation on supply chain management, all payments to that contractor will be irregular expenditure, the auditor-general says.
If President Cyril Ramaphosa is serious about ensuring the state’s competence, those such as Zwane who feign ignorance of the laws that govern their actions, should be rebuked and put on terms. It should be unacceptable that political office holders lack knowledge about the laws they should be abiding by. No accountability will be possible if officials can simply claim ignorance.