MANYANE MANYANE
FORMER Public Enterprises director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi suspects that Parliament leadership is shielding outgoing Minister Pravin Gordhan from facing scrutiny.
This was after the report of the portfolio committee on public enterprises (PCPE), which was scheduled to be tabled on Thursday afternoon, was removed from the roll.
Tlhakudi expressed his disappointment and sadness in the letter written to Acting Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli, in which he also demanded answers as to why the matter, that was on the programme, was not addressed.
Asked if Tsenoli received the letter, Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo did not comment.
Tlhakudi submitted a protected disclosure and oral presentation before the PCPE, which found that Gordhan failed to submit relevant documents regarding the now cancelled deal between SAA and Takatso Consortium.
Tlhakudi, who blew the whistle on this agreement, said Takatso was not among the shortlisted bidders, adding that the company did not have the financial and technical capacity, but Gordhan maintained that Takatso was the best deal.
He said this was the opportunity that Gordhan wanted to benefit a few privileged individuals he favoured in an irregular manner.
In the letter, written on Thursday, Tlhakudi said the PCPE concluded its work with unanimous consensus among the members that there were grounds for the Takatso transaction to be referred to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) due to serious issues that came up in the committee hearings regarding Gordhan’s conduct.
He added that the report of PCPE was due to be tabled in the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon and was duly placed on the parliamentary programme and reflected on the programme.
The item reflected as follows: Consideration of Report of PC on Public Enterprises on Alleged protected disclosure made by the former Director-General of the Department of Public Enterprises.
“It was therefore with an expectation of hearing the matter deliberated on in the House that I sat before my television to listen to the plenary session from this morning (Thursday), 10h00. It was therefore a surprise to listen through the whole session only to have the PCPE report not addressed,” said Tlhakudi.
He said he made inquiries and was informed that the PCPE was not privy to the deliberations that led to the item being rescheduled, nor was it clear what parliamentary processes informed the amendment to the programme overnight, as it were.
“As you can appreciate, Honourable Acting Speaker, at face value this seemed, to me at least, to be mechanisations by Parliament leadership of due processes to shield Minister Gordhan from facing scrutiny on his conduct in the conception and implementation of the Takatso transaction. I pray that my assessment is off the mark, as you would appreciate that this would not reflect well on your leader of the House, the Programme Committee, and the House as a whole.
“These developments are concerning as the House was due to rise this afternoon for the Constituency Period, and for the members to perform their party electioneering work ahead of the elections scheduled for 29 May 2024. Therefore, this implies that the PCPE report would be in limbo in the sixth Parliament,” Tlhakudi said.
He asked Tsenoli to provide clarity on the following:
1. The status of the protected disclosure and the report of the PCPE including its findings and recommendations;
2. The reasons for the removal of the PCPE item from the parliamentary programme;
3. The parliamentary processes that led to the amendment of the parliamentary programme for May 9, 2024.
Tlhakudi, who was fired last year, said this matter was important because he lost his job and his career in the public service due to the untruths that Gordhan could not sustain when given an opportunity by the PCPE.
The committee, in the speech that it was supposed to present in Parliament, said it was convinced that Tlhakudi’s allegations were, on the whole, credible for various reasons.
The committee said: “Firstly, Mr Gordhan had failed to submit on time the relevant documents to contradict Mr Tlhakudi’s allegations, thus denying the committee an opportunity to test his version against that of the former director-general in order for the committee to make an informed determination.
“Secondly, although Mr Gordhan had submitted the relevant documents late, the submitted documents came with the conditions for Non-Disclosure Agreements and for the investigation meeting to be held in-camera. The shortcoming of these conditions was that they did not provide any tangible evidence to persuade the committee to doubt Mr Tlhakudi’s allegations. As such, the Committee could not, in good conscience, declare that the SAA Strategic Equity Partner transaction was above board.”
The former director-general last week wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa about how he would make sure that Gordhan account for his conduct in the sale of SAA. However, he is still waiting for a response from the president.