Treasury DG failed to disclose criminal record

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“Mr Mogajane did not discharge his duty towards his employer. He did not disclose his criminal record in his application for the Deputy Director-General (DDG) position in 2015 and, after being made aware of the criminal record in 2015, he acted dishonestly in his Z83 application form for the position of Director-General during 2017 by failing to disclose that he had a criminal record,” said the Public Protector.

Mkhwebane made the announcement at a briefing where she released a number of reports in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Former Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, who was Minister at the time and chaired the selection committee, was also found to have “flouted the governance processes and checks and balances”.

In her investigations, Mkhwebane found that even after security vetting found that Mogajane failed to disclose, Gigaba took it upon himself to determine his suitability for appointment.

In light of these findings, the Public Protector has directed President Cyril Ramaphosa to take appropriate disciplinary action against Mogajane within 30 days.

Former Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula was also found guilty of contravening the Executive Ethics Code.

Mkhwebane found that sporting supplier Sedgars paid R680,000 for the former Sports Minister’s holiday to Dubai.

The Public Protector directed the President to share the report with members of Cabinet with a view to guard against future transgressions and to warn members of Cabinet “against exposing themselves to such situations”.

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille was also found guilty of violating the Executive Ethics Code by using her influence to benefit her son, who is a teacher in the Western Cape.

Mkhwebane found that Zille communicated with the Western Cape Education Department’s senior officials, where she actively supported a process which resulted in the procurement of computer tablets for use in certain schools in the Western Cape.

“By intervening in the execution of a contract for the delivery of computer tablets for the use in public schools in the Western Cape Province in 2014 in order to ensure that her son and his company, Paper Video, had access to these tablets for the purpose of presenting revision workshops for a group of matriculants during the October 2014 school holidays, the Premier exposed herself to a risk of conflict of interests between her official responsibilities and her private interests,” said Mkhwebane.

The Public Protector directed that the speaker of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature must within 30 working days table the report in the legislature and take appropriate action to hold the Premier accountable.