Legalbrief | your legal news hub Thursday 30 September 2021

Minister, police chief fingered by Public Protector

The Public Protector's police lease probe fingers National Police Commissioner , businessman Roux Shabangu, Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde and the DG in her department, Siviwe Dongwana, who claims fear for his safety and that of his family forced him to approve two lease deals worth R1.6bn, writes Legalbrief.

This is revealed in the Sunday Times , which claims to have established that these allegations are contained in a provisional report on the latest investigation - into a Durban lease - by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. According to a report on the News24 site, the report, expected to be officially released this month, is allegedly highly critical of Cele, Mahlangu-Nkabinde and businessman Shabangu. The Protector's report deals with leases in Pretoria and Durban and follows an earlier report which focused on the Pretoria lease. 'Due to the pressures put on me by the new Minister (Mahlangu-Nkabinde) I signed the lease agreement,' Dongwana allegedly told Madonsela. 'If it was not for the pressures put on me, I would never have done so. By this point I was extremely stressed, tired and scared and was concerned for my personal safety and that of my family,' he is quoted as saying. The report was sent to President , Mahlangu-Nkabinde, Cele, Shabangu, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Finance Minister , among others, this week, according to the Sunday Times report. Full report on the News24 site

According to the Sunday Times , the report says Mahlangu-Nkabinde was guilty of 'improper' conduct and failed 'statesmanship' for going ahead with both leases after two legal opinions found them invalid. It also found Cele was guilty of 'maladministration' and 'unlawful' conduct for driving the R1.1bn Durban deal; the Treasury should consider blacklisting Shabangu's company, Roux Property Fund, for its involvement in 'unlawful and irregular procurement'; rentals for both buildings were inflated by up to 300%; locating staff from the specialised child protection and sex offences units in central Durban contradicted Mthethwa's vision of bringing police closer to the communities they serve; and a new tender issued for the Durban lease in April - but shelved after the Sunday Times exposed it last month - was rigged to suit a previous offer by Shabangu. The paper says the report contains the most damning findings the Public Protector's office has yet made against senior political figures. Full Sunday Times report

Cele has failed to convince Madonsela that his hands are clean, according to the Sunday Times. Madonsela rejects Cele's excuse that he relied on his procurement officials to handle the lease. Cele had withdrawn all delegating of contracts over R500 000 and 'was therefore solely responsible to ensure that the procurement of the lease complied', her report says, according to the paper. 'The view of the National Commissioner that he was reliant upon the advice and decisions of senior (police officials) for his approval of the procurement ...cannot be accepted.' Full Sunday Times report See also: State officials punished for applying the rules

The leaking of the report could compromise investigations into the matter, the Public Protector's office has warned. 'It will compromise the integrity of the investigation and justice,' spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi said, according to a report on the News24 site. 'We're obviously shocked the report has been leaked - it's supposed to be confidential,' she said. Copies had been sent, on 9 June, to several senior officials and politicians to obtain a response from affected parties. 'They're supposed to respond within 14 days... by 23 June,' Masibi said. Full report on the News24 site