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The DA welcomes the Public Protector’s report titled “On the Point of Tenders” regarding her investigation into the awarding of tenders by the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport. The Public Protector is of the opinion that a crime has been committed and that legal action is required.

In July 2011, the DA asked the Public Protector to investigate tender irregularities involving former ANC Youth League Leader Julius Malema and deposits made into the account of his family trust by various people and businesses. We specifically asked her to look into the activities of On-Point Engineering, a regular beneficiary of Limpopo tenders, with close ties to Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust.

The Public Protector has indeed found this relationship untoward. In the report she states that:

“As the main source of income of On-Point during this period was the payments made to it by the Department in terms of the agreement and On-Point owed its existence as a profit making establishment that could declare regular dividends thereto, the Ratanang Family Trust as one of two shareholders of Guilder Investments (as the holding company), accordingly benefitted improperly from the unlawful, fraudulent and corrupt conduct of On-Point and maladministration of the Department”.

The DA supports her request that the Master of the North Gauteng High Court initiate an investigation into the Ratanang Family Trust and the Gwangwa Family Trust, with specific reference to the payments made to it by On-Point.

The South African public is sick and tired of politically connected individuals abusing public procurement to line their own pockets.

The charges laid against Malema and his Limpopo cronies last month are a step in the right direction. The courts must consider the findings of the Public Protector’s report. It is becoming abundantly clear that serious abuses of public money have transpired. The responsible persons must be held accountable.