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The release of a report by the Auditor-General (AG) today proves that the crime intelligence “slush fund” was used to finance renovations at Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s private residence.  

However, it states that there is no evidence to suggest Minister Mthethwa knew that these funds were being used for this purpose.

I find it hard to believe that there is no evidence to suggest that Minister Mthethwa did not know what was going on at his own house; did not know that a wall was being built around it and did not ask who was footing the bill.

When reports broke that the crime intelligence fund had been misused, the Minister denied that “any source of public funds or taxpayers’ coffers” paid for the renovations to his home in KwaZulu-Natal.  That tells us that he believed he was paying for the wall personally – or did he believe that some anonymous donor was paying for it, perhaps?

It is impossible to believe that the Minister was not aware of how the building of a wall at his own home was funded.

So if the Minister didn’t order for the funds to be used to pay for the wall, who did?

I will be submitting parliamentary questions to Minister Mthethwa to determine:

• Who he thought was paying for the renovations at his home;
• whether, when this story first broke, he made any attempt to find out whether state funds had been used to build the wall at his home - and if he didn’t, why not;
• if the Minister did not arrange for public funds to be used to pay for the wall, who did?

The recent chaos that has unfolded in crime intelligence has eroded the public’s faith in the work of the SAPS. It is essential that whoever was responsible for ordering that state funds be used to the benefit of the Police Minister be identified, and held accountable. Meanwhile, the DA expects the Minister to do the right thing, and immediately pay for the wall out of his exceedingly deep Ministerial pocket.