Ethics committee recommends Mosebenzi Zwane’s suspension as MP

Parliament’s ethics committee has recommended that former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane be suspended as a Member of Parliament (MP) for one term.

The recommended suspension is harsher than the usual 30 days suspension, a fine of no more than a month’s salary, or a reprimand in the House.

It comes after the DA and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) laid complaints against Zwane in 2017.

Appointment orchestrated by Guptas

The committee found his appointment as minister of mineral resources was orchestrated by the Guptas. They did this to secure the purchase of the Optimum coal mine by their company Tegeta.

Benefits received from Guptas

It also found that he failed to disclose benefits and hospitality he received from the Guptas.

One of the complaints was that Zwane travelled on a private jet from Zurich to Dubai in the company of Tony Gupta and Salim Essa. He then spent two days in India with the Guptas before flying back to Johannesburg.

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While in Dubai, Zwane stayed at the five-star Oberoi hotel which was paid for by Sahara Computers, another Gupta company.

He was also accused of misleading Parliament when asked about his interactions with the Guptas.

Other complaints included:

• That Zwane appointed Gupta associates K Moodley as his special advisor and Malcom Mabaso as his personal advisor, which led to alleged conflicts of interests. Moodley’s company Albatime (Pty) Ltd made a R10 million payment to Tegeta towards the purchase of the Optimum Coal Mine. Moodley’s wife also served on the Eskom board as a non-executive director from 2014 to 2016. Mabasa is a business associate of Essa and also a director of Premium Security Cleaning (Pty) Ltd.
• Zwane’s continuous absenteeism from the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources between 2017 and 2018 frustrated the work of the committee to hold and inquiry into his alleged unlawful conduct.
• He abused his role on the Inter-Ministerial Committee by issuing a press statement on 1 September 2016 about the Cabinet meeting of 13 April 2016 and the work of the task team into the closure the bank accounts of the Guptas and their businesses. This press statement was later rejected by the Presidency.

The committee also found Zwane failed to provide evidence to confirm that the travel, hotel stay, and chauffeur driver in Dubai was not paid for by the Guptas. He also did not provide documents confirming that he paid for these himself.

For issuing the press statement, the committee wants Zwane to apologise to the National Assembly.

The Ethics Committee recommended sanction will now need to be approved by the House.

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