Earlier this month, the Democratic Alliance (DA) issued a number of media statements relating to Minister Sisulu’s close advisor, Mphumzi Mdekazi.
The DA’s statements shed light on Mdekazi’s alleged attempts to influence tender awards using emergency drought relief funding in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
In order to divert public scrutiny from these abounding allegations, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu immediately launched a tax-payer funded public relations campaign, titled #SisuluAntiCorruption.
The intention of this campaign was to publicize the Minster’s personal appointment of a team of lawyers to lead the finalization of outstanding corruption cases in the Water Department – the vast majority of which relate to her predecessors terms.
As part of this campaign, the Minster attempted to place a half page advert in a number of Sunday Papers.
The advert outlined the steps her Department was taking to “tackle corruption” but went further in attempting to exonerate her close advisor, Mdekazi, by stating:
“The case lodged by the CEO of Amatola Water against one of the members of the panel advising the Minister, Mr Mphumzi Mdekazi, has been found to be without merit by the Hawks”.
This statement was based on an alleged clearance letter (see here and here), signed by a Colonel Ledwaba, purporting to be Head of the Priority Crime Investigation Unit of the Hawks.
The clearance letter, which is addressed to the DG of the Department, Mbulelo Tshangana, states that “criminal charges of fraud, corruption and tender irregularities instituted against Mdekazi were withdrawn” as “evidence against Mdekazi is circumstantial and insufficient to proceed with prosecution”.
The clearance letter and Minister’s advertorial were then widely circulated to structures of the Department, the Press, and Members of the Water Portfolio Committee as evidence of Mdekazi’s innocence.
Independent Media subsequently published a headline story regarding the letter, titled: “Hawks report clears Lindiwe Sisulu’s Advisor”. This story – now removed from IOL – followed hot in the tracks of an additional 3 stories regarding Sisulu’s efforts to stamp out corruption and transform the department by the same journalist over the past week.
Today, the Hawk’s issued a nation-wide media statement noting that the letter circulated by Mdekazi and referred to in Sisulu’s departmentally funded advertorial is a fake.
Denying the issuing of such a letter, the Hawks went on to note that:
“The DPCI wishes to distance itself from the so-called leaked report and state unequivocally that it does not have a Lieutenant Colonel/Colonel Ledwaba within its ranks.
The DPCI also wish to condemn the bogus letter with the strongest contempt.”
It is now clear that Minister Sisulu has not only failed to charge and place Mdekazi on suspension; but her Ministry has deliberately attempted to spend bankrupt Department of Water and Sanitation funds on the publicity of a fake Hawks exoneration letter in order to protect this advisor.
The DA has today made arrangements with the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations to lay charges against Minister Sisulu and her advisor in terms of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act.
We further call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to call this Minister to account in providing a full and proper explanation to the nation.
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