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Corruption Watch (CW) has noted with grave concern President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint former communications minister Dina Pule as minister of social development, as part of this week’s Cabinet reshuffle. This decision does not invite confidence, as the appointment places a politician with a well-documented record of ethical misconduct at the helm of a department that administers social grants for some 28-million South Africans and manages one of government’s largest budgets. In recent years the Department of Social Development has also repeatedly been singled out as one of the Auditor-General’s big culprits regarding irregular expenditure.
As communications minister from October 2011 to July 2013, Pule oversaw extensive mismanagement involving her department, including the ICT Indaba scandal, in which Parliament’s ethics committee found that she had concealed her relationship with businessman Phosane Mngqibisa while millions of rands in public funds and contracts were allegedly channelled to companies linked to him – these perks included overseas trips and accommodation.
Pule was dismissed from Cabinet in July 2013 following the revelations. A subsequent Public Protector report found that she had acted unlawfully and unethically, and that she had persistently misled Parliament and investigators during the process. CW was among the civil society organisations that publicly called for her removal at the time and for criminal charges to be brought against her, and we stand by the concerns we raised then.
“It is a slap in the face of everyone advocating for just and accountable governance for the president to choose someone who had been embroiled in corruption at the last ministry she headed to be the new minister for social development,” says CW executive director Lebo Ramafoko. “It seems as if this department has been identified as the dumping place for the ANC Women’s league, whose leaders have not advanced gender equity and have all had small skeletons lurking in their closets.”
The social development environment, with its large budgets, high transaction volumes, and vulnerable beneficiaries, demands a minister with an unimpeachable record of integrity and transparency. Pule is not that minister.
“Her appointment aptly demonstrates that dealing with corruption is just words for the president,” adds Ramafoko. “This country has capable women leaders; so which agenda is being fulfilled by choosing some of the worst ones to lead important national portfolios?”
CW calls on President Ramaphosa to explain the rationale for this appointment, and on the department to proactively and publicly commit to full transparency in its operations, including publishing all supply chain and procurement decisions. We further call on Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Social Development to exercise heightened oversight of this ministry.
We will not hesitate to act – including calling for Pule’s removal – should any indication of impropriety emerge.
For media queries, please contact Janine Erasmus on Janinee@corruptionwatch.org.za or on 079 240 2934.
