Please find attached soundbite by Nazley Sharif MP.
The DA can reveal that, on information obtained from one of our parliamentary questions, it appears that Minister Dina Pule ignored the Public Protector’s remedial action in 2013.
She was required to ensure that every cent was repaid to the Department of Communications by her lover at the time, Mr Mngqibisa, who galivanted to Mexico and New York on taxpayer funds.
In 2013, the Public Protector made it clear: Dina Pule was to quantify all amounts spent by the Department of Communications on all Mr Mngqibisa’s overseas trips and then ensure that all monies were paid by January 2014.
It is a good thing that the Department is now headed by a DA Minister, because the truth of Pule’s past can be revealed.
The incumbent Minister, the DA’s Solly Malatsi will now ensure that the money is returned, because the quantification and full repayment never happened under Pule.
The only amount repaid was the amount already noted in the Public Protector’s report.
We welcome the commitment provided in the parliamentary response by Minister Solly Malatsi that the Department will now ensure that the outstanding monies are fully recovered.
What is strange to the DA is that the Speaker of Parliament has stated in correspondence to us that Dina Pule provided receipts of repayments to the Speaker’s office, raising serious questions as to what exactly she told the Speaker.
If the Public Protector’s remedial action was not complied with, this is a serious matter. Failing to comply with remedial action is a serious offence and cannot simply be ignored.
In addition, according to the Minister of Police, the criminal case against Dina Pule has been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority.
The DA will announce further action on this matter soon.
Minister Pule is not fit to lead one of the most important portfolios in South Africa, Social Development. Her presence places the most vulnerable at risk.