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A group of Catholic priests, called the Dominican order, has asked the public protector to investigate the allegations of the deputy finance minister and the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Nene as a finance minister.

The call was made in response to the allegations that the Gupta family offered the deputy finance minister in South Africa the job of a finance minister before Nene was fired.
“At a time when our country desperately needs to revitalise the economy and create jobs that could benefit the poor, any crisis of trust in the presidency and the treasury concerns us as priests because it has a direct effect on the poor and the unemployed that we minister to.” Says Fr. Stan, the leader of the Dominican priests in Southern Africa.

The Dominican priests believe that an independent investigation into the circumstances of Nene’s dismissal, including the one undertaken by the public protector, could help to restore public trust and investor confidence in the presidency and the treasury.
The group of priests has also challenged all the political parties in the country to reconsider their stance on the need to regulate corporate funding of political parties.
South Africa has no reporting requirements for corporate donations to political parties during the elections and outside the election periods.

Over the years, almost all the political parties have resisted the civil society in its calls for mechanisms to end secrecy around corporate funding of politicians and political parties.
“The current crisis and allegations about the Gupta family point to the need for such transparency mechanisms. Corporate funding of political parties always come with some strings attached. The poor are the ones that suffer most when such strings are pulled. We therefore join the civil society in its calls for a policy mechanism to regulate private funding of political parties, including the opposition parties.” Fr. Stan added.

The Dominican order has also called on the institutional investors to show ethical leadership on the matter.
“Institutional investors have the capacity to make some contribution to ending secrecy around political party funding. We urge them to consider investor activism that would put pressure on the directors of big companies in South Africa to be transparent at least to their investors about the donations that companies make to political parties and politicians.” Fr. Stan said.

Issued by SA