In Ramaphosa’s cabinet, ‘consequences’ can mean promotion

CORRUPTION

In Ramaphosa’s cabinet, ‘consequences’ can mean promotion

It does not seem as if the president bothers too much with background checks for his ministerial choices, writes PIET CROUCAMP. Even if he did, there are few signs that a shady past will necessarily be held against them.

ANGELA TUCK
ANGELA TUCK

DO yourself a favour and go on an internet search for corruption, unethical behaviour and petty-bourgeois controversy with reference to Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet and his deputy ministers. That's if some of the allegations hadn't already traumatised you so much in the past that you can recall them to the letter. I accept that the ANC is not exactly offering the cream of the land to Ramaphosa to select his cabinet, but sometimes I wonder if he is making any effort to trace the pasts of his choices before he appoints them.

By the way, in South Africa, unlike officials in certain government positions, cabinet ministers are not required to pass a formal security clearance before being appointed. Senior government officials, such as directors-general, senior managers in the public service, and members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, must undergo rigorous vetting and obtain security clearances from the dubious and allegedly corrupt State Security Agency (SSA). As far as ministers are concerned, it is a case of – as former finance minister Trevor Manuel liked to say – “we serve at the pleasure of the president" and if a minister is found to be unethical or corrupt, it is for the president's political account.

Let's work through a short list of individuals who should rather not be in Ramaphosa's cabinet. Deputy ministers are not part of the cabinet, but we can ask the same critical questions about them.


Noxious Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

What must an apparatchik do to be removed from the Union Buildings or the national legislature? How much shame can you bring and how much damage can you do? This former speaker of the national assembly and minister of defence and military veterans, is currently appearing in the courts on charges of corruption and money laundering. Mapisa-Nqakula reported to the Lyttelton police station in Centurion on 4 April 2024 and was later released on bail of R50 000. She is accused of receiving about R4,5 million in bribes from an equally controversial Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu during her term as defence minister (2016 to 2019). Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu's company was a service provider to her department.

Mapisa-Nqakula is facing 12 charges of corruption and one of money laundering. The alleged illegal payments range from R100 000 to R4 million and are said to have been made between December 2016 and July 2019. Mapisa-Nqakula resigned as speaker, which important persons do not do easily as long as they think they can still game the legal system.

However, the speaker and former minister was also involved in several other controversial events in her long political career. In 2020, she was accused of using a South African Air Force plane to transport senior ANC members to Zimbabwe for a meeting with counterparts from Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe's ruling party. Ramaphosa came down on her like a ton of bricks, his kind of brick; she was “fined" a full month's salary.

But that's not all. In 2013, it was reported that Mapisa-Nqakula and her husband, Charles Nqakula, tried to cover up the death of 28-year-old Moses Mbheki Mbadlanyana at their home. Mbadlanyana was allegedly killed in a family quarrel by the couple's son Chumani, with a sharp object.

And, Mapisa-Nqakula was accused of abusing her position as defence minister to bring a Burundian woman to South Africa without legal documentation. She used an SAAF plane to transport the woman, whom in her version of events she later said she wanted to protect from violence, to South Africa.

After he no longer knew back and forth with her, Ramaphosa convinced the ANC to elect her speaker of the national assembly. This tells you a lot about Mapisa-Nqakula, but certainly also something about Ramaphosa's leadership qualities.

Smoker Khumbudzo Ntshavheni

I hear on the Afrikaans radio station RSG the pressure is increasing on the president to remove the minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. She is one of his most loyal allies. After an investigation by the Hawks, Ntshavheni is being considered for prosecution by the national prosecuting authority (NPA) over an alleged irregular award of a R2,5 million tender to Makwande Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors. Speaking of security clearances, this minister is ironically also the one responsible for the state security agency.

The Hawks' case against Ntshavheni refers to her term as municipal manager of the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality in 2009. Not only are the allegations 16 years old, but if you look at the current timeline of decisions by the NPA, Ntshavheni will probably not be prosecuted soon. Ramaphosa will probably, as is his habit, kick the ball into touch for as long as he can and if she does not appear in court her political career is safe.

In 2022, Ntshavheni was named in the second report of the Zondo state capture commission concerning her role as a non-executive director on the board of Denel. The commission found that the dismissal of three Denel executives in 2015, in which she had a hand, was intended to remove obstacles for the Gupta family in their attempt to take over the arms manufacturer.

Judge Raymond Zondo recommended that the council, including Ntshavheni, be investigated with a view to possible prosecution. Ntshavheni denied these findings and said she had never met the Gupta brothers or their associates. Cases emanating from the Zondo commission will not be on the NPA's radar until the next stone age, but Ramaphosa has warned on several occasions that Zondo's findings will have consequences for those implicated. Well, one consequence was that he made her minister, despite his own and Zondo's warnings.

In the corridors of the ANC, Ntshavheni is known for her authoritarian instincts. In November 2024, she made the comment that the illegal miners trapped in Stilfontein should be “smoked out". She said: “We don't send aid to criminals. Criminals must be prosecuted." Well, I would hope the president gets to the point where he also smokes out the implicated minister.

No blade for Blade Nzimande

In January 2024, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) released a report, accompanied by leaked audio recordings, implicating then higher education minister Blade Nzimande and NSFAS board chairman Ernest Khosa in alleged corrupt activities. The recordings indicate that service providers paid large sums of money as bribes to Nzimande, Khosa and the South African Communist Party (SACP) in exchange for obtaining tenders. Outa demanded the resignation of Nzimande and Khosa, arguing that these actions had led to mismanagement of NSFAS funds, harming thousands of students waiting for their grants.

Nzimande categorically denied the allegations, describing them as “malicious" and “baseless". He claimed he had never used departmental funds to fund the SACP or had received bribes from NSFAS service providers. “My conscience is clear, and I have nothing to hide," he said, announcing his intention to take legal action against those spreading the allegations. We are still waiting for him to drag Outa to court.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations and said they had to be investigated. He assured the nation there would be “higher levels of accountability" to address the problems within NSFAS. As of January 2025, investigations by the relevant authorities are still continuing, and no formal charges have been brought against Nzimande. Don't hold your breath.

President-in-waiting Paul Mashatile

The case against Alex mafia boss and Panyasa Lesufi's blood buddy, deputy president Paul Mashatile, is well known but here are the details again. In February 2024, the DA filed criminal charges against Mashatile. The allegation is that he was involved in nepotism and family patronage over nearly two decades. The case concerned the purchase of a R28,9 million mansion in Constantia, Cape Town, by Mashatile's son-in-law, Nceba Nonkwelo, via his company Bilcosat. Between March and May 2023, Nonkwelo, through his business entities, acquired properties worth R65,9 million, some of which are believed to have been used by his father-in-law. Mashatile has consistently denied any involvement in corrupt activities.

In an interview in July 2023, he also had to deny allegations that he had embezzled funds during his term as Gauteng MEC for housing. In March 2024, the joint parliamentary committee on ethics and interests requested the deputy president to respond to the corruption allegations within seven days.

As of January 2025, investigations into these allegations are still ongoing, and no formal charges have yet been filed against Mashatile. Whether there was corruption, we do not know, but Mashatile initially did not bother to declare this benefit in the parliamentary register. Neither did he declare the fact that the Afrikaner ponzi king, Louis Liebenberg, had “gifted" a diamond to his wife. If nothing changes, Mashatile will be South Africa's next president.

Incorruptible Gwede Mantashe

Then there is my old personal sweetie pie, Gwede Mantashe. As chairman of the ANC and denizen of Luthuli House, he is probably untouchable. The Zondo commission's report was released in March 2022 and recommended that Mantashe be investigated for corruption. It stemmed from evidence that Bosasa, a company implicated in widespread corruption, had installed security systems worth around R300 000 at Mantashe's properties for free. Mantashe admitted to the installations but denied any corrupt intent and frothing at the mouth claimed that he was not susceptible to bribery or corruption. He indicated that he had plans to challenge the commission's findings in the courts. I don't know if that has happened, but I also know that he did not declare his stud bull, a gift from a mega farmer.

The resettled Thembi Simelane

Thembi Simelane is one of Ramaphosa's confidants and after she was implicated in the VBS scandal he transferred her from the justice cabinet portfolio to human settlements. The story was extensively covered by the media and I don't want to go into the details too much. To my mind, this is one case that will test the impartiality and integrity of NPA head Shamila Batohi.

While serving as mayor of Polokwane, Simelane received a loan of R586 000 from Gundo Wealth Solutions, a company linked to the now bankrupt VBS Mutual Bank. The loan was apparently used to finance a coffee shop.

Parliament's justice and correctional services committee launched an investigation to establish whether Simelane's loan – which is indirectly linked to VBS – represents a conflict of interest, particularly with her overall oversight of the NPA. In January 2025, the committee concluded its examination and indicated that criminal investigations should be carried out by law enforcement agencies. Ramaphosa will do nothing until the NPA takes action. My recommendation is that you don't hold your breath here either.

The deputy ministers too have some strange pasts.

Well-protected Lindiwe Ntshalintshali

In September 2016, the Emalahleni municipality, when Lindiwe Ntshalintshali was mayor, gave approval for R1,5 million of public funds to be used on a new official car for her. After opposition in the local legislature and criticism in the media, the purchase was cancelled. However, the delusion of grandeur that comes with an expensive official car was only the first sign of what was to come.

In October 2017, media reports appeared that during service delivery protests the municipality spent R2,1 million on emergency protection at Ntshalintshali's private residence. These expenses were controversial because Emalahleni municipality was already virtually bankrupt.

In a Huisgenoot/You version of her political career in the ANC, Ntshalintshali was physically attacked during an ANC meeting in Mbombela in July 2019, also with a chair, by party members dissatisfied over her organisational abilities. However, Ramaphosa thinks she is just the administrative support that correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald needs.

In January 2020, the SABC broadcast an audio recording in which a woman, allegedly Ntshalintshali, talks about government contracts and “kickbacks". She questioned the authenticity of the recording and attributed it to an attempt to damage her reputation ahead of an ANC electoral conference. Sure!

Rosy outlook for Pinky Kekana

Another case that forms part of the network of corruption that led to the bankruptcy of VBS is that of deputy minister in the presidency, Pinky Kekana, and her association with the notorious Edwin Sodi. She allegedly received R170 000 from the controversial tenderpreneur. The Zondo commission investigated these transactions, but if the Hawks and NPA do not look into the matter again, Kekana can rest on her laurels. Off the hook.

Frightening Thabang Makwetla

Thabang Makwetla was chastised by parliament's ethics and members' interests committee for accepting a gift from Bosasa, a company that regularly did business with the department of correctional services. As was the case with Gwede Mantashe, Bosasa installed a security system at Makwetla's house in January 2016. Makwetla conveniently failed to report it somewhere, like the parliamentary register. He claimed he had intended to pay for the service, but that the late Bosasa boss Gavin Watson declined payment. The Zondo commission recommended a criminal investigation and described Makwetla's failure to admit the conflict of interest as “quite frightening". I doubt whether Ramaphosa is aware of this case at all.

Helpful Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu

In January 2020, an audio recording revealed that deputy social development minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu unlawfully let an administrative clerk in her office go on four international trips. The clerk was actually to use the travel allowances to pay lobola (bride price) for her cousin. Bogopane-Zulu's defence was that she was only – with taxpayers' money – trying to help a young South African. Nothing came of it.

Big borrower Thandi Moraka

In September 2021 News24 claimed that between 2016 and 2017, deputy international relations and co-operation minister Thandi Moraka received R600 000 from a company involved in an Eskom money laundering entity, Babinatlou Business Services. The payments were apparently made on the instruction of France Hlakudi, a senior Eskom official. Hlakudi was eventually indicted for corruption in the Kusile power station project. Moraka claimed that the funds were a loan from a friend. Who knows.

Perhaps it is time for South Africans to insist on security clearances before the president announces his ministers and their deputies. Before this can happen, however, the State Security Agency must be cleansed of corruption, and that process has yet to begin.

♦ VWB ♦


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