The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the suspension of the CFO of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Caiphus Ramashau. This follows sustained pressure from the DA for his suspension after Minister Naledi Pandor’s surprising suspension of the DIRCO Director General, Kgabo Mohoai, last month.
At the centre of this debacle is the highly controversial R118 million irregular expenditure on the New York Pilot Project.
Minister Pandor dodged answering a question posed to her during a previous Q&A session stating that it wasn’t her responsibility, but during a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation yesterday, and after much reluctance by officials, it was confirmed that the CFO, Mr Ramashau, is under precautionary suspension.
In welcoming the suspension, the DA must also hasten to add our serious concerns that other senior officials implicated with this project, have not been suspended. It has now emerged that the Department has engaged to sublease office space for our missions in New York, and the very role players implicated in the R118 million schenanigans, are also at the centre of this new deal. This is a recipe for disaster, and we brought this to the Minister’s attention.
These actions, or lack thereof by the Minister as the political head of DIRCO, further vindicates the DA’s calls that Director-General Mohaoi’s suspension was a smokescreen to protect other senior officials closely linked to senior politicians.
Minister Pandor must come clean on the shenanigans that are taking place in her department, to prevent any further embarrassment for South Africa on the international platform.
We have already written to the President requesting the suspension of both, Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane, under whose watch this New York Pilot Project and its shenanigans were initiated and for failing to exercise her executive oversight and Ambassador Jerry Matjila, who was the Director-General during that period.
If Minister Pandor fails to address and execute her executive duties, we will not hesitate to request the President, for her suspension as well.
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