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The Democratic Alliance (DA) will ask the Minister of Agriculture to appear before the Portfolio Committee to explain why the former acting chief-executive of the Land Bank, Phil Mohlahlane, who was dismissed over a corruption scandal, has been appointed to another senior position in the department. The Minister must explain exactly why Mr. Mohlahlane's shameful past conduct has now been entirely ignored and why he is to now be trusted with any sort of responsibility where public funds are involved.
Reports in the media have revealed that Mr. Mohlahlane has been recently appointed to the position of CEO of the Limpopo Agricultural Development Corporation which will oversee the allocation of millions of rands worth of project grants in the province. The corporation requires a level of proven transparent management from which Mr. Mohlahlane, given the allegations of corruption against him, should be immediately disqualified.

Last year, Mr. Mohlahlane was dismissed from his former position at the Bank after a forensic audit revealed severe irregularities in the management of the Agri-BEE fund under his control. Apart from Mr. Mohlahlane personally enriching himself from the fund, investigations revealed that some of the money was channelled to support the extravagant lifestyles of several politically well-connected individuals.

Why exactly has the Minister now seen fit to ignore Mr. Mohlahlane's track record of fraud and mismanagement? What confidence can South Africans have in the efficient management of public funds when those who have abused them for their own purposes in the past suffer superficial penalties before being redeployed to continue their abuse in other powerful positions?

Unfortunately, this reshuffling of corrupt officials is business as usual for the ANC government. Mr. Mohlahlane is only one of a number of officials with corruption allegations against them to be quietly appointed to new positions where in fact any action has been taken against them at all. For instance, what action was taken against those ANC MPs implicated in the Travelgate Scandal? None. Clearly, having the right political connections, unquestioningly serving a party agenda and indeed ‘sharing the wealth' with other political cronies is far more important to our national government than demonstrating an ability to serve the public with any sort of integrity.

The DA believes that those people entrusted to manage public resources should be beyond reproach. In light of this and Mr. Mohlahlane's appointment, I shall be asking the Minister whether she shares this view and, if so, how the Department can explain itself.