‘He is also not clean’ – Ramaphosa under fire for ‘sheltering’ corruption-accused Cabinet members

President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to act decisively against his Cabinet ministers marred by corruption allegations because “he is also not clean”, experts claimed.

Recently, opposition parties and fellow members have called for Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni to be removed from her post following accusations of R2.5 million in corruption.

Allies accused of corruption

Ntshavheni was under investigation for allegedly awarding an irregular contract initially valued at R584 000 to Makwande Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors by the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality in July 2009.

Last week, the Hawks said its investigation was complete, and the docket is now with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

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Experts said this was the ANC’s old bad habit of covering up graft and ill-behaviour involving its members.

Also, Ramaphosa was playing ANC politics by protecting loyalists to ensure his political survival in the party’s power battles.

There are some members of Ramaphosa’s Cabinet with clouds hanging over their heads who could also be facing the ANC’s step-aside rule.

Before Ntshavheni, former justice minister Thembi Simelane allegedly corruptly obtained a loan from VBS Bank via a third party to open a coffee shop in leafy Sandton.

Instead of firing Simelane, Ramaphosa shifted her to human settlements. And despite a flurry of graft allegations against Deputy President Paul Mashatile, the president was unmoved.

Mashatile was expected to succeed Ramaphosa as president, although he would’ve been contested for the position.

Inaction casts ethical cloud – expert

Political analyst Lesiba Teffo said the president’s inaction each time a minister acted wrongly brought into question Ramaphosa’s own ethical behaviour.

He pointed to the president’s failure to account fully for the Phala Phala saga.

“Maybe it’s not in his own character to act because he is not clean himself. His ethical conduct remains questionable, like the ministers he is protecting,” Teffo said.

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Political economy analyst Daniel Silke said Ramaphosa’s inability or reluctance to adequately sanction his ministers was an affront to his administrations.

“This really reflects very poorly on Ramaphosa himself and undermines his avowed intention to run a clean administration and to restore the integrity of the ANC.

“As long as these various ministers with scandals hanging over their heads are shielded by the president and retained in senior positions, the ANC will find it very difficult to justify that it is mending its ways,” Silke said.

More losses at the polls?

He said Ramaphosa’s timidity in action would ultimately only come back to bite the ANC at election time.

“It is unfortunate that the president has been unable to crack the whip. Again, this broadly undermines his authority by virtue of the fact that action is not taken against these individuals.”

He said serious matters involving Cabinet members needed to be investigated, and where there was a “scandal situation”, ministers needed to understand that their time was up.

“The reshuffling of ministers does not satisfy the issue of accountability and transparency. It really serves to obfuscate the necessity for clean administration,” Silke said.

In Ntshavheni, the president faces the dilemma of punishing an ally who defends him when his critics in parliament and on public platforms attack him.

A third analyst, Pule Monama, said: “A SIM-swap of ministers is not enough; the president undermines our intelligence; they think we have no brains. These are things that make people lose confidence in the ANC during the election.”

Monama said the ANC always puts party interests above those of the country.

It considers the individual’s influence or the strength of his following to measure whether or not to act against a misbehaving member.

Those with a mass following, such as Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, often escaped punishment because the party feared to rock the boat.

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