The Northern Cape Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, has distanced himself from reports that suggest he influenced the awarding the COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) tenders in his province.
The Sunday Times reported that Saul’s special advisor’s wife, Mandisa Shushu, received a R13 million tender to supply the police with one million masks.
The article further alleges that a businessman, Somandla Sibisi, who is believed to be Saul’s friend, was awarded a tender worth more than R27 million, despite being deregistered by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) for non-compliance.
“I want to mention upfront that I don’t engage in piggish plunder of public resources. I have great respect for my fiduciary role as the Premier of the province,” Saul said in a statement on Monday.
He has described the article as embarking on a “futile attempt and wild-goose chase to create a link between me and the two people that got the tenders for PPEs”.
“At no point was I involved or tried to influence procurement processes in the Department of Health or the South African Police Service (SAPS) for the benefit of certain individuals.
“I do not have any role in the management of the SAPS and how they issue tenders, as SAPS is a national competency,” he explained.
He also refuted claims that he is close friends with Sibisi.
“I challenge anybody with information to the contrary to come to the fore. I relate to him like any other businessperson in the province, which in most cases I meet at ANC events and State of Province Addresses. I don’t have any business, personal or professional dealings with him.”
Saul said he learnt through social media regarding the contract awarded to the wife of his special advisor, Norman Shushu.
“To loosely insinuate that I had any role in the awarding of the tender without a shred of evidence is gutter journalism. I have on various occasions and platforms spoken strongly against corruption.”
Saul said he was amongst the first Premiers to support President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on publicly declaring all PPE procurement.
“As chairperson of the Provincial Command Council, I have on record called for full disclosure of all procurement. As a result, the Northern Cape government presented a most detailed report on COVID-19 expenditure. This is all due to the fact that there was nothing to hide from my side.”
Saul said it was fair to be subjected to public scrutiny as public servants.
“In the article, the journalist could not provide any evidence on the so-called ‘close relationship’ with Mr Somandla Sibisi and how possibly I could have been involved in allegedly issuing a tender to Mrs Mandisa Shushu.”
He has called the matter to be reported to law enforcement agencies if the tenders were awarded unlawfully.
Since his appointment, Saul said, his provincial government has cut wastage and corruption, and managed to save the provincial government close to R200 million in less than a year.
“I’m quite aware of the fact that there are individuals that are deeply unhappy about these measures and are busy with a serious pushback campaign. This attack is just one of those instalments of the pushback campaign to soil my reputation.”
Saul said he was not going to be deterred by what he called a witch-hunt and blackmail.
“The work to serve the people of Northern Cape honestly and transparently will seamlessly continue. Let me assure the people of the Northern Cape that if there is anything untoward with any of the COVID-19 related tenders issued to the 175 companies, there will be serious consequences for all those involved.” – SAnews.gov.za
