DA claims Mpumalanga MEC bribed R1.5 million during procurement of Mandela statue

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga said in a statement on Monday that it has written to the public protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane asking for an investigation into MEC for culture, sports, and recreation Thandi Shongwe following allegations that she pocketed a R1.5 million bribe during the procurement of the Mandela statue.

A statue of the late former president Nelson Mandela was unveiled earlier this month at the entrance to the Mpumalanga Legislature.

The Lowvelder reported that the unveiling of the Mpumalanga Madiba statue raised serious budget questions as it cost taxpayers R8.5 million for the whole project.

The DA’s Mpumalanga premier candidate Jane Sithole said during a recent sitting of the Mpumalanga provincial legislature, Shongwe couldn’t admit or deny that she accepted a bribe but chose to rather try and embarrass other members of the legislature instead of answering the question.

Sithole said: “MEC Shongwe is no stranger to controversy related to hyper-inflated tenders as she has been linked to multiple inflated tenders during her time as speaker of the provincial legislature. Over the past year, more reports of MEC Shongwe’s alleged involvement in irregular tenders have surfaced.”

Shongwe’s alleged involvement in irregular tenders, Sithole claimed, include overinflating a R15 million tender for IT services by attempting to force the successful bidder to accept a further R5.5 million, the irregular awarding of a tender of R9.9 million to Junox 210 CC for the supply of photocopiers for a three-year period, and the awarding of a R19.6 million tender to controversial Frugacode CC for security and data integrity.

Sithole continued: “As one of former premier DD Mabuza’s closest allies, MEC Shongwe has for a long time enjoyed the perks of Mabuza’s protection, but her cover started to fall when she bungled the appointment of an acting premier and was demoted to culture, sports, and recreation MEC.”

The Lowvelder reported earlier this year that the DA said the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature had admitted to the party that the swearing in of Refilwe Mtsweni as acting premier on Tuesday was in violation of the constitution.

The public protector must do a full investigation into Shongwe so that she can pay back any money gained from corruption, Sithole said, adding that the DA will continue to monitor this situation.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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