Deputy Speaker willing to pay after PP finds him guilty
Deputy Speaker of Limpopo Legislature, Lehlogonolo Masoga ran up a cell phone bill of R125 000 for private use during an official trip to the US in 2014.
POLOKWANE – Deputy Speaker of Limpopo Legislature, Lehlogonolo Masoga, said he does not have a problem to pay back the money for a R125 000 telephone bill as was ordered by the Public Protector, when he knows what to pay.
Masoga ran up a cell phone bill of R125 000 for private use during an official trip to the US in 2014. The Public Prosecutor, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, found him guilty of improper conduct and maladministration earlier this week.
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Masoga told Review he never had a problem to pay the bill, he just needed to know what the amount was he needed to pay. “The report that I have a copy of does not stipulate the amount I need to pay back. It also states I never used the data for porn and that no such thing was found on the phone despite allegations in the media that the bill was for pornographic material. This is something I will keep fighting as it is untrue and that is why I contacted the Press Ombudsman to deal with these allegations,” he said.
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He added with relation to him overspending on the account that there were no stipulations at the time of the trip, and there still are no regulations, that stipulate a certain amount which can be used during a trip with the user having to pay the difference if it is more than the allocated amount.
“I have asked to see the policy relating to provisions for such a phone but I haven’t received any such documentation since the matter first came up in 2014.
“There was no determinations made then or now and it is something that is still unclear even after the report. This means I still have no idea what the amount is that I need to pay,” Mosoga said.
He stated in closing he again wants to say allegations of him watching pornographic material with the official phone was proven to be a lie and he finds these allegations offensive. In her recommendations, Mkhwebane said the Speaker of the legislature must review sections of the policy that provide for the total allowance of combined telephone, mobile tablet and laptop data for members of the legislature on official trips. She added the legislature must take appropriate action and recover a reasonable portion of the amount spent, within 60 days of the report being released.
