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South African News Updates |
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17 May 2009 Hardly a week into his new portfolio
as Minister of Transport, S'bu Ndebele is in the midst
of political controversy after accepting, among other
gifts, a R1.1 million vehicle from a group of
contractors with contracts worth more than R400
million in his department.
Vukuzakhe contractors gave a farewell party for
Ndebele at the Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on
Saturday, apparently honouring the former KwaZulu-Natal
premier for his contribution to creating a platform
for small contractors to emerge.
Apart from other gifts that included cattle, Ndebele
drove away in a new Mercedes-Benz S500 worth R1.14
million. The DA called for him to return the car.
However, Ndebele came out with guns blazing,
defending the gesture and saying the gift did not
amount to any conflict of interest because it had been
planned a while ago.
He said the contractors were not aware, and neither
was he, that he would become minister of transport
when he was first approached.
"This was supposed to happen before the elections.
They approached me, asked for a date to thank me for
my contribution and they were under the impression
that I was retiring from politics," said Ndebele.
Vukuzakhe is an emerging contractor development
programme which focuses on wealth- and job-creation in
communities that have been disadvantaged.
The transport department invested about R10 billion in
the Vukuzakhe programme from 1998 to 2008. There are
29 140 registered Vukuzakhe contractors in KZN.
The programme was piloted in 1994 as part of the Roads
for Rural Development Programme which then had a
budget of R3 million.
Today, according to the provincial transport
department, more than 1 500 contracts are awarded
annually to emerging contractors with a value of more
than R400 million, and Ndebele championed the
initiative during his tenure as MEC for transport in
KZN.
Yesterday, the DA leader in KZN, John Steenhuisen,
called on Ndebele to return the vehicle because this
could be construed as a conflict of interest since
Vukuzakhe received the bulk of its work from the
Department of Transport of which he was now the
political head.
Steenhuisen said it was "inappropriate" for Ndebele to
accept the gift.
"It's important that public office-bearers leave no
possible sniff in their portfolios. The car should be
given back. We're desperate to turn a page on the
politics of patronage. Tokyo Sexwale relinquished his
positions from his companies so there should not be
any networks that build around politicians," he said.
Ndebele said he was baffled by this and wondered what
the fuss was about since he was going to declare, in
writing, all his gifts not only to Parliament, but to
the president and the ANC secretary-general.
"There's a code of ethics that we strictly follow,
that's why I will be writing a letter declaring these.
I gave Vukuzakhe the date to honour me as they had
requested and this was done on the basis that I was
retiring. The DA are not guardians of my morality," he
said.
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