Dlodlo to be reprimanded
Parliament’s ethics committee has found public service and administration minister Ayanda Dlodlo breached the code that guides MPs’ conduct when she did not declare her stay at Dubai’s Oberoi Hotel which was paid for by controversial businessman Fana Hlongwane.
Dlodlo’s sanction will be a reprimand in the house.
In June 2017‚ DA MP Phumzile van Damme lodged a complaint with the committee following a report published by the Sowetan newspaper on June 5 2017 that Dlodlo‚ then deputy minister of public service and administration‚ stayed at the luxury hotel in 2015 and enjoyed spa massages‚ room service and car hire – none of which she paid for.
The article alleged that Gupta-owned company Sahara booked the accommodation, but Hlongwane paid the invoice.
Dlodlo was charged for not disclosing the benefit.
A report of the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests published by parliament on Monday, reveals Dlodlo told the committee she and Hlongwane were childhood friends and considered themselves “sister and brother”.
Dlodlo explained that while she and Hlongwane were not blood relatives‚ Hlongwane’s biological father housed and cared for her and her family.
The report states when Dlodlo undertook to meet Hlongwane in Dubai‚ she never saw it as anything other than a holiday with her brother.
“The member categorically stated that at no time was she linked to any Gupta business‚ that she never met the Guptas and that she has never accepted anything from the Guptas.”
Dlodlo further told the committee that the reason she did not declare the stay at the Oberoi Hotel and the additional benefits of spa massages‚ room service and car hire, was because she considered Hlongwane her brother.
MPs disagreed – according to the code which provides gifts and hospitality in excess of R1‚500 from a source other than a family member or permanent companion or gifts of a traditional nature must be disclosed.
The committee also ruled that while the code refers to a “family member”‚ its definition section refers to “immediate family” – meaning only a member’s spouse‚ permanent companion or dependants.
Another ANC MP‚ Nyami Booi‚ was found guilty of breaching the code for his failure to declare a R60‚000 monthly salary from a company called Lurco Coal.
Booi entered into an indefinite agreement with the company on December 1 2015 to act as a consultant on a nonexclusive basis‚ advising on stakeholder relationship management (among other things) on an ad hoc basis.
The ethics committee recommended that Booi be reprimand in the house and that he be fined an amount equal to 45 days’ salary. –