‘Commission treats me unfairly’
FORMER Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) head Mzwanele Manyi has once again accused the Zondo Commission of inquiry into state capture of treating him unfairly.
Yesterday, he returned to testify about his “dismissal” from the department of labour and his subsequent move to the GCIS.
Manyi replaced Themba Maseko as head of the GCIS in February 2011.
He has been accused by some officials of bullying staff and compelling them to support the Gupta-owned The New Age newspaper and TV station ANN7 during his tenure at the GCIS.
Manyi eventually bought The New Age and ANN7 from the Gupta family.
Yesterday, evidence leader advocate Kate Hofmeyr was continually interrupted by Manyi, who accused her of ambushing him in her questioning.
“Miss Hofmeyr wants to push her own narrative of a dismissal,” he said.
Hofmeyr was questioning Manyi about his alleged dismissal from the department of labour and soon thereafter his appointment at the GCIS.
She asked Manyi whether or not he had seen a 2010 letter, penned and signed by him, to the minister of public service and administration at the time.
Manyi said he had never seen the letter, and disputed that he was fired from the department. He appeared annoyed as Hofmeyr continued to refer to his departure from the labour department as his “dismissal”.
Manyi accused Hofmeyr of not understanding how government worked.
“A minister does not have the power to dismiss a DG (director-general). The only time the word ‘dismissal’ or ‘termination’ takes effect is when you have the consent of the president or a delegated authority.
“I have no evidence of having been dismissed, and the reason I said so is that I was getting paid. It can never be factually correct to say a minister dismissed you,” he said.
Manyi also faced questions regarding the GCIS’s support of The New Age, and tailoring regulations which favoured advertising in the newspaper.
When asked whether it was justifiable for the GCIS to spend money on advertising in a newspaper that was not a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), Manyi said it was not mandatory for newspapers to be members of the ABC.
He said he would encourage people to support media houses that were not part of the ABC as it was run through the collusion of media houses.
“You are taking a newspaper (The New Age) and comparing it to media that has long existed,” said Manyi when questioned on why the GCIS had spent thousands of rands on advertising in The New Age.
Probed further about whether he had a relationship with the Guptas, Manyi said: “There is no relationship.”