7 October 2022
Yesterday, the 06th of October 2022, Limpopo Premier Chupu Mathabatha announced some changes in his Executive Council which effectively saw the axing of three MECs and their replacement by ANC PEC members who have unresolved corruption charges still lingering around them.
Having consulted extensively and considered the views of the membership, the SACP in Limpopo vehemently rejects this reshuffle in its entirety and calls for the immediate withdrawal from the provincial Executive Council (cabinet) of all those who are implicated in the Reserve Bank VBS Great Heist and other official corruption reports in the hands of the Premier.
It’s a matter of public record that as the SACP we have always protested and marched side by side with members of the community against VBS looters. Our position has not changed. Legal technicalities and resultant delays in the prosecution of those implicated in the great heist looting of the hard-earned savings of our poor people will never influence any change of position on our part.
We will continue to stand with the poor and the victims of the VBS heinous looting no matter how long the legal process takes. The fundamental question remains on whose interests are these reshuffles, considering that they are not for the poor and the working class?
The investment of R150m and R300m of municipal finances at the instructions and/ or approval of the leadership of Lepelle Nkumpi local municipality and Vhembe District municipality respectively remains both illegal and immoral, and can never be justified nor wished away on the basis of election to senior leadership positions in the ANC. While the ANC – our Alliance partner – do as they wish in relation to internal organizational processes, such ‘political recklessness’ should not be allowed to continue finding expression at any sphere of the state.
Our understanding and commitment to renewal is clear and unwavering. It’s about uprooting everything bad about the past and ensuring a corruption free administration and governance now and in the future. Our position against corruption and self-inducing reputational damage on issues of deployment was made very clear during our recent Alliance Political Council barely two weeks ago.
It thus remains the vehement view of the SACP that the latest reshuffle is an insult to the poor victims of the VBS lootings. No political machinations nor self-serving legal manipulations can change this fact.
We remind the Premier and the ANC leadership that beyond the Terry Motau report, the Public Protector in June 2021 found the following municipalities to have acted in violation of Section 13(7) of the Municipal Finance Management Act and called for Implementation of appropriate actions against those implicated:
- Vhembe District Municipality (R1.07b resulting in the loss of R300m)
- Collins Chabane Municipality (R120m)
- Elias Motswaledi (R190m)
- Greater Giyane (R153m)
- Ephraim Mogale (R80m)
- Fetakgomo Tubatse (R230m)
- Lepelle Nkumpi (R150m)
It is on the basis of these reports that we call on the Premier and the provincial leadership of the ANC to immediately
- Reverse the latest appointments to the provincial Executive
- To expedite the full implementation of all outstanding reports on cases of maladministration and corruption in the province, including those of the Tubatse inflated land purchase by officials in the department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) which was thoroughly conducted by Bowmans Attorneys and already served before the Limpopo Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA).
Similarly, we call on the President and the national leadership of the ANC to make an immediate intervention in resolving this matter.
Finally, we urge the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Courts to act with speed and decisiveness in finalizing the VBS and other corruption related cases in the province.
Issued on behalf of the SACP Limpopo
Cde Chuene Malebana (Provincial Secretary)
Further enquiries:
Cde Charley Nkadimeng
Provincial Spokesperson
074 462 8633
charley.sacplimpopo@gmail.com
charleyn@ymail.com
Source: South African Communist Party