Legal NGO Integrity Network has slammed the DA’s demands for Gauteng MEC of Education Matome Chiloane to face a lifestyle audit, despite him not being implicated in former ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe’s corruption case.
Chiloane is an ally of Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Integrity Network believes that the attack on Lesufi and Chiloane is motivated by the political fight for the Gauteng province following that the DA was not given any MEC positions in the province.
Chiloane made news after Mabe and six co-accused were charged for corruption linked to a R27 million tender in 2017.
Chiloane, however, is not linked to the 2017 tender. It appears that Mabe and Chiloane have been friends for over 20 years.
While Chiloane was unemployed in 2017, Mabe gave him about R10 000 a month, equalling R180 000 over many months.
Lesufi and Chiloane are seen as the ANC’s powerhouses in the province and often locked horns with the DA and its Federal Chair Helen Zille.
Earlier this month, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula demanded an explanation from Lesufi, particularly concerning comments that seemed to undermine the ANC’s collaborative efforts with the DA.
Sources informed IOL that vocal Gauteng leaders expressed frustration over the national leaderships silence and its lack of support amid attacks from allies in the GNU, particularly the DA. It is understood that regional leaders clarified that the ANC is not subordinate to the DA.
Mbalula reportedly struggled to answer questions about what the leadership did when the Gauteng ANC faced criticism for forming the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) without the DA.
Sources indicated that Mbalula supported the notion that Lesufi should be reprimanded for his comments.
That followed Lesufi’s response to Zille on X, where he asserted that the ANC would not be dictated to by the DA.
“You will never dictate terms to us, members of the ANC. Never! You can bring all your media friends and media houses, the ANC is not for sale. The ANC is one. There’s no Provincial ANC or local ANC, we are one ANC, not a federal movement,” Lesufi had said.
Zille, speaking on Newzroom Afrika, accused Lesufi of orchestrating the removal of Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink, contrary to the ANC leadership’s apparent hesitance on this matter.
On Tuesday, the DA demanded that Lesufi urgently publish Chiloane’s lifestyle audit following allegations of fraud against Mabe.
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education Sergio Isa Dos Santos said these are serious allegations that a responsible premier would not ignore; instead, he would act swiftly to provide answers to the residents of Gauteng.
“However, in his typical carefree manner, Premier Lesufi has remained silent, hoping this issue like many others will just disappear. The DA has repeatedly urged the Premier to release the lifestyle audits publicly. His failure to act raises concerns about either grave negligence or a deliberate attempt to conceal corruption and protect the corrupt in his administration,” he said.
Ernest Tshesane of the Integrity Network has, however, hit back at the DA.
“Chiloane is not implicated in the Pule Mabe matter. It is common knowledge that Mabe and Chiloane are childhood friends. If Mabe received any tender irregularly that is a matter for organs of state to investigate, not for Chiloane. Those are of course two separate matters. It is not illegal for a friend, who is not a public official by the way, to give money to a friend.
“It is also common knowledge that the DA is aggrieved because they were omitted from government positions in the Gauteng GNU. The GNU is not dependent on the DA for survival, Gauteng province has proven that. There is no illegality on the part of Chiloane” Tshesane said.
The Star
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