Gigaba to face grilling in Parliament on looting of public money
HOME Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba is to face tough questions from Parliament’s inquiry into state capture during his tenure as public enterprises minister following testimony linking him to looting of the public purse.
This comes as the portfolio committee on public enterprises is hunting for the Guptas after they disappeared, their lawyers telling the committee that they were no longer their clients.
Gigaba is not the only senior official to face the inquiry on Tuesday. Former SA Airways board chairperson Dudu Myeni and ex-Eskom board chairperson Ben Ngubane will also be questioned on their roles.
Myeni was supposed to appear before the inquiry yesterday but failed to show up. The committee agreed to call her again next Wednesday.
Acting chairperson of the inquiry Zukiswa Rantho said they wanted Gigaba to explain his role at state-owned entities a few years ago.
“On Dudu Myeni, the committee is going to write to her and invite her to the committee. She is coming next Wednesday. We have set aside Wednesday for Myeni and Ben Ngubane,” said Rantho.
“On Malusi Gigaba, when we met we said we will give him focus areas like governance, procurement and how boards were appointed in SOEs. We will also talk about some of the testimonies,” said Rantho.
Some senior officials at Eskom had implicated Gigaba in the appointment of Guptalinked officials to the boards.
Myeni was implicated by former Eskom board chairperson Zola Tsotsi, who said she invited him to then president Jacob Zuma’s official residence in Durban to be instructed on the suspension of four top officials at Eskom in 2015.
The hunt for the Guptas would continue, and Rantho said they would ensure the brothers appeared before the inquiry in March.
But the Hawks are also on the hunt for the Guptas, who seem to be in India and/or Dubai.
Suspended Eskom head of group capital Abram Masango told the inquiry how Eskom’s Matshela Koko had introduced him to Salim Essa before the four officials were suspended in March 2015.
This followed a meeting between Tsotsi, Myeni and Zuma in Durban.
Masango said Koko had told him at a meeting in Joburg that despite the suspensions, he was going to return to Eskom.
All three officials, including former chief executive Tshediso Matona, ex-finance director Tsholofelo Molefe and former head of group capital Dan Marokane, cut ties with Eskom.
However, Koko was the only one of the four who was reinstated at Eskom.
Masango said he had refused to testify at Koko’s disciplinary hearing late last year because it was a sham. This was the same position taken by suspended head of legal and compliance, Suzanne Daniels, who warned that Koko would be acquitted.
Koko was found not guilty, but the board charged him again a few weeks ago. He quit on the day of the hearing.
We will give him focus areas like governance