Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Mr Pravin Gordhan, repudiates as devoid of any truth the statement issued on 2 November 2015, by the DA’s mayoral candidate for the City of Tshwane, Mr Solly Msimanga, and the Notice of Motion given by the DA’s Shadow Minister of CoGTA, Mr Kevin Mileham, in National Assembly yesterday, 3 November. Both the statement by Msimanga, which was published in Media24, on Monday, 2 November 2015 and the Notice of Motion by Mr Mileham accused Minister of Finance Mr Nhlanhla Nene and CoGTA Minister Gordhan of failing to comply with their obligations as Ministers and specifically their oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Mileham’s accusation follows a letter he wrote to both Minister on 1 October 2015, in which he was requesting the Ministers of Finance and CoGTA to conduct a joint investigation into the procurement of the smart electricity meter system in the City of Tshwane.Minister Gordhan says that on 21 and 28 August 2015, his department received two (2) Parliamentary Questions relating to the cost of collection, cost-benefit and cost of cancellation of the PEU Capital Partners contract for the provision of a smart electricity meter system in the City of Tshwane, from Mr Kevin Mileham. Following receipt of the Parliamentary Questions, CoGTA has been engaged in a series of telephone calls and email correspondence, dating back to 9 September 2015, in which the department has been requesting the City of Tshwane to provide comprehensive information to enable the Minister to reply to the Parliamentary Questions.
The additional information provided by the City of Tshwane, as late as 22 September 2015, still did not enable the Minister to reply adequately to the Parliamentary Questions posed by Mr Mileham. Accordingly, on 22 September 2015, CoGTA’s Parliamentary Liaison Officer, Mr Lebohang Tekane, submitted a request for indulgence to Parliament, explaining that the department was still sourcing all relevant information from the City of Tshwane.
However, CoGTA’s follow up requests to the City of Tshwane did not yield additional information to assist the Minister to reply to the Parliamentary Questions. On considering the information provided by the City of Tshwane relating to the Parliamentary Questions, it became clear that a detailed investigation will be necessary to enable him to properly respond to the questions asked and any possible follow up questions. Upon his return from his official trip abroad, he signed a letter to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, Mr Jacob Mamabolo, requesting him to conduct an investigation into the procurement of the smart electricity meter system in the City of Tshwane.
Existing local government legislation does not provide for the minister, in the first instance, to conduct an investigation into allegations of corruption or maladministration in a municipality. Section 106 of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000 [Act No. 32 of 200], prescribes that the minister must request the MEC responsible for local government in the relevant province to conduct an investigation. It is only after the MEC has failed to do so within 90 days of the request that the law permits the Minister to directly intervene.
Minister Gordhan says: “As required by law, I have written to the MEC responsible for local government in Gauteng, Mr Jacob Mamabolo and caused it to be hand delivered to him, requesting him to conduct an investigation into allegations of possible tender irregularities relating to the PEU Capital Partners contract for the provision of smart meters in the City of Tshwane. The law requires the MEC to act on my request within 90 days. All that notwithstanding, I have requested the MEC to provide me with a progress report on the matter within 30 days of receipt of my request, given the urgency of the matter.”
MEC Mamabolo has undertaken to give priority to the matter.
For more information contact:
Tsakani Baloyi
Cell: 082 052 0892
