DA asks Zondo to turn screws on Ace for ‘capture’ of Free State

The Democratic Alliance (DA) Free State premier candidate has called on the chair of the state capture inquiry, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to investigate the former premier of the province and current ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.

The party says it wants the commission to investigate Magashule after it compiled a dossier containing allegations of corruption that have been made over the last year against the ANC secretary-general.

Patricia Kopane said in a statement on Wednesday: “This includes Magashule’s involvement in the controversial Vrede dairy project where some of the project’s money was allegedly used to pay for the extravagant Gupta wedding in 2013, his office’s dodgy contracts with media companies, as well as the Sedgars/Sedtrade contracts.”

The DA said on Wednesday morning it sent a letter to the commission detailing many of the allegations made against Magashule.

Magashule at the weekend declared that he is willing to appear before the commission.

Kopane said: “The DA welcomes this and has requested the commission not to allow Magashule to focus only on his alleged corrupt links with the Gupta family, but to look into the totality of allegations against him because this complete picture is clearly one of provincial capture.”

The DA premier candidate alleged that during Magashule’s tenure as the premier of the Free State Province, the province regressed fundamentally.

Kopane continued: “Out of a total population of 2.8 million people, more than a million are dependent on social [grants] for their livelihood which makes the Free State one of the most poverty-stricken provinces in the country.

“Unemployment in the Free State has continuously increased up to a point where four out of ten Free Staters are now unable to find permanent employment, while two out of three job seekers between the ages of 18-25 have no realistic chance of accessing employment.”

She added that governance has deteriorated to a point where all municipalities in the province have collapsed or are on the verge of collapse.

“Free State municipalities are serial offenders in respect of non-payment to Eskom and water boards, while also failing to render other basic services like sanitation and refuse removal in a reliable manner.

“In the period between 2013 and 2017 alone, nearly R1 billion was lost through the wasteful expenditure of Free State municipalities. This was caused by Magashule deploying only those in his factional circle to leadership positions in councils and administrations of municipalities without the necessary skills or based on nepotism.”

The party further accused the provincial government under Magashule of mismanaging health services to a point where the department is faced with R1.5 billion of malpractice litigation claims.

“People cannot access proper basic health care both in the hospitals and in the clinics on daily basis.”

The DA further said the auditor general called the provincial department of education a non-viable entity because of over-expenditure.

“Between 2013 and 2017, provincial departments have been guilty of spending nearly R2 billion in an unauthorised manner, the type of spending which according to the auditor-general is the strongest indicator of possible corruption due to a lack of political oversight and accountability.

“While maladministration is partly to blame for the failures of provincial departments and municipalities over the last nine years, the probability is that the bulk of the people’s money that was not spent properly, has been lost through institutionalised corruption by the manipulation of supply chain procedures.”

She said in addition to information on the allegations against Magashule, the DA can reveal that over the last weeks it has received information indicating that the manner and volume of awards to two companies by the provincial government must be questioned and investigated.

“Over the last years, both Sedtrade and E’tsho have benefited more and more from awards made by provincial departments up to a point where it is possible that the majority of provincial contracts are now handled by these two companies. What is even more serious is that it has now come to our knowledge that they, in fact, operate jointly as a consortium on contracts such as the construction of Thuto ke Thebe Primary School in Mangaung.”

Kopane said this is an indication of a failure to ensure competitive bidding and proper bid processes.

“It has also been alleged to us that the ANC, Magashule, and his family have been benefitting privately from the awarding of contracts.

“When Magashule appears in front of the Zondo Commission he must account for these new allegations in addition to the other known allegations against him and the provincial government which he presided over for eight years.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.