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The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the recent reply by Minister Susan Shabangu to a parliamentary question regarding the involvement of employees from the Department of Mineral Resources in private mining entities. The Minister has conceded that no regulations are in place to prevent former employees of her department becoming involved in private mining entities after leaving their government posts.

This loophole raises questions about the ability of employees of the Mineral Resources Department to use the influence afforded by their positions for personal gain. For example, officials who are involved in awarding tenders or prospecting rights could easily leave the Mineral Resources Department to go work for the very companies to which they had awarded permission to conduct lucrative mining activities. This loophole creates opportunities for improper conduct and should be investigated by the Minister.

To try and safeguard against government ministers capitalising on the influence and privileged information they obtain while in office, and using it for private gain, the DA last year wrote to President Zuma to request that a "cooling off period” clause be added to all ministerial performance agreements. This clause would seek to prevent ministers from taking part in related activities in the private sector for a certain period of time after leaving public office.

Minister Shabangu could take a similar approach regarding relevant employees in her Department and, indeed, the Department of Public Service and Administration needs to consider implementing new regulations for all government departments in order to close down similar loopholes across the board.

The DA will be submitting further questions to Minister Shabangu to determine whether former employees of the Mineral Resources Department who have been involved in awarding tenders or prospecting rights have gone on to work for the companies that were awarded such lucrative opportunities. Furthermore, if the Minister fails to take the necessary measures to address this loophole, the DA will seek to ensure that the issue is placed on the agenda for the Standing Committee of Public Accounts (SCOPA).