The central finding made by His Lordship Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa in his ruling which set aside the 2005 report on the “Oilgate scandal” was that the Public Protector (PP), Advocate Lawrence Mushwana, had failed/refused to investigate certain allegations and drew conclusions without launching a proper probe upon which to base them.
In essence that the PP had failed to carry out his mandate and as such was required to go back to the drawing board and do the exercise properly this time.
The Mail&Guardian in accordance therewith has every reason to feel vindicated by the outcome of the decision.
The PP is now trying to decide whether or not to challenge the judge’s decision.
Without harping on the fact that one gentleman and his attorney appear to be linked to half the major scandals in this country the PP has to acknowledge the following:
- “The scandal involved the alleged irregular payment of R15 million by PetroSA to Imvume Management, which had claimed it needed bridging finance to pay oil-supply company Glencore for a shipment of oil four days from harbour.
However, Imvume failed to pay Glencore, and PetroSA had to pay another R15 million directly to Glencore.
Part of the first payment — R11 million — was allegedly used for the ANC’s 2004 election campaign.
In his report, Mushwana found no evidence of wrongdoing in the scandal.
He determined that the ANC and Imvume were not public entities and therefore did not perform public functions and as such were not part of government.
He said the state had no shareholding in Imvume and so the ‘alleged payment was clearly made by one private entity to another and could therefore not have had any bearing on state affairs’.” (Mail&Guardian)
In accordance therewith two points stand out:
Firstly that there is unquestionably a suggestion of wrongdoing with the PP designated as the party mandated to ascertain what had gone on and indicate who should be charged.
Secondly as the PUBLIC PROTECTOR it certainly comes across as if the PP is finding reasons why he can’t investigate and as such is certainly not protecting the public interests.
Of course this begs a further question:
With everything that is now in the public domain why haven’t the police intervened and begun to formulate charges? If the PP feels the judgement needs to be overturned then surely this avenue — being at best reluctant — is not where this matter should be right now.
Perhaps an ambassador’s post.
A prince with dignity and determination
Prince Ngarambe’s goals are to become Rwanda’s first transgender model and to uplift the country’s youth
The EFF’s principles are unshakeable
Unlike the ANC, the core values of the freedom fighters do not change with each leader it elects
