The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to determine whether Minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe, requested presidential permission to accept and retain a gift of two Chinese luxury SUVs in 2024 amounting to a value of approximately R1 million.
According to the Executive Ethics Code, no member of cabinet, whether national or provincial, may accept or retain a gift exceeding a value of R1000 without having requested permission from the President or the Premier, respectively. Where such permission has not been granted the member must either return the gift, decline the offer, or donate the gift to the state.
The DA has also written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development to request Minister Tolashe to account to Parliament on the chaos that has become a hallmark of the Department of Social Development under her watch. Urgent oversight and accountability is desperately needed.
Recent media exposés allege that Minister Tolashe not only accepted the gifts, but gave them to her two children to use in their personal capacity with vehicle registrations reflecting a clear change of ownership to the Tolashe siblings. This is a clear violation of the Executive Ethics Code if Minister Tolashe has not made a request for presidential permission to accept and retain the gifts in question.
Furthermore, the Executive Members’ Ethics Act of 1998 stipulates that a breach in the executive ethics code may warrant an investigation by the Office of the Public Protector. Specifically, Section 2.2 (b) of the Act states that the Code of Ethics must include provisions prohibiting Cabinet members from using their position or any information entrusted to them, to enrich themselves or improperly benefit any other person.
Given that the gifts in question far exceed the value threshold stipulated by the ethics code, and in light of preliminary investigations which have now revealed that Minister Tolashe has seemingly retained these gifts and given them to her children, it is now a matter of public interest to determine whether President Ramaphosa, or the Office of the Presidency, received the necessary request from Minister Tolashe to accept and retain them.
The DA will not allow any executive office bearer to unduly benefit from their positions. The Republic of South Africa has laws prohibiting executive members from materially benefitting from their executive power, and Minister Tolashe is not above legal scrutiny if she is alleged to have enriched herself and her family through any proximity to wealth as a result of her official duties.
The Government of National Unity’s (GNU) statement of intent makes a commitment to corruption-free governance. The DA will not allow cabinet ministers to be bought and influenced through relations with any citizen or any official representing a foreign government.