In a subsequent letter from Chairman of Prasa dated 24 August 2016; Mr Popo Molefe contends that the Minister of Transport’s request to abandon the investigation by Werksmans opposes the Public Protectors remedial actions and thus is “harmful” to Prasa and should not be entertained even in the slightest.

In so doing the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters’ attempt to prematurely terminate Werksmens into Prasa, as revealed yesterday, violates the dictates of established legal precedent set in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and later in the Constitutional Court in the Nkandla matter. This precedent expressly stipulates that the aggrieved party in a Public Protector-mandated investigation must do so by way of review application and cannot circumnavigate this process for narrow political ends.

Minister Peters is well within her right to challenge the veracity of the report only upon its completion and by way of court process. As such we maintain that her conduct in this regard remains highly irregular and possibly unlawful and she must be sanctioned for acting outside her remit in what we contend is an abuse of power.

Chairman Molefe further notes that capitulating to Minister Peters’ request to call off the Werksmens investigation before its conclusion will “expose Prasa to the tune of approximately R12 billion of possible irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.”

It is reckless for the Minister to think a sum of R12 billion is negligible enough to cancel the investigation, if recovered, this money will bolster Prasa’s operations significantly.

The DA will not rest until South Africans are given closure on the billions of taxpayer rands that have disappeared at Prasa due to illicit tenders. The Minister would do well to let the investigation conclude in order to prove that she respects the court ruling relating to the Public Protector’s powers and the financial well-being of Prasa.

 

Issued by DA