The DA has written to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza demanding clarity on information provided by former Communications and Digital Technologies Minister and now Minister of Social Development Dina Pule regarding the repayment of state funds.
The Speaker previously informed the DA that Pule had provided her office with receipts which appeared to show that she had repaid the money owed. However, a subsequent parliamentary response from Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi to our question shows that R15,308.65 remains outstanding, while the original amount repaid did not include expenditure linked to the extension of her lover at the time, Mr Mngqibisa’s trip to New York.
We have therefore asked the Speaker to provide the precise information and correspondence supplied to her office by Pule, as well as copies of the receipts she submitted.
The Public Protector’s remedial action required Pule to quantify all amounts spent by the Department on Mr Mngqibisa’s overseas trips and ensure that every cent was repaid by 31 January 2014.
The DA will also take the matter up with the Public Protector’s Office to establish whether this remedial action was fully complied with.
The Speaker must now provide the information needed to establish what Pule told Parliament and whether the full amount owed to the state was repaid.