MINISTER IN FAKE NPO SCANDAL
MINISTER of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa and businesswoman Zanele Mbokazi ’ s recommendation to the National Lottery Board (NLB) to fund Ihashi Elimhlophe’s Africa Month event was rejected after a junior Lotto official threatened to blow the whistle if the funding was approved.
This after the finance official discovered that the beneficiary organisation endorsed by Mthethwa and Mbokazi was not a non-profit organisation (NGO) as claimed in the application but a crèche in Nkowankowa, Limpopo, allegedly owned by the mother of Ihashi’s wife Linah Khama.
The musician applied for a R4-million grant through a “mother organisation” Impucuzeko to host Ubuntu Cultural Festival in a number of rural areas last month. The application was allegedly approved by assessment and finance committees.
Mbokazi, a preacher and evangelist who presents Khwezela on SABC1, was contracted for a short term by the department to help with projects around Africa Month.
But the NLB’s chairman Professor Ntshengedzeni Nevhutanda slammed the brakes on the payment after the finance officer warned him of dire consequences if he approved the funding. “Apparently the officer threatened to blow the whistle or go public as the the NGO mentioned in the application for funding is in fact a creche owned by Ihashi’s mother-in-law,” said a source close to the board.
Sandile Memela, spokesman for the arts and culture ’ department, said: “The minister is approached by countless artists and organisations to endorse projects aligned to the core mandate of the department.
“Also, he wishes to encourage artists and cultural activists in the sector to conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism,” said Memela.
Nevhutanda confirmed that they received an application from Impucuzeko but declined to discuss the details with Sunday World.
“Please note that we are not at liberty to discuss individual applications with anyone other than the identified contact persons in the applications we received,” he said.
“You may contact the applicant organisations directly.”
Khama said: “We took a decision to not comment on the matter because we have not received any information or feedback from them. We are hearing this for the first time from you. ”
Mbokazi said: “This was an issue to be dealt with by the NLB in terms of its internal processes. At the time of making the recommendation/s we were not aware about that the NLB would not accept a pre-school as an NPO/ NGO as we were not privy to their internal processes.
“Yes, Ihashi did say that NLB had said they wanted an NPO and they had an NPO trading as a crèche.”