Former public enterprises director general Kgathatso Tlhakudi has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa how he will hold accountable the outgoing public enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, in the deal between SAA and Takatso Consortium.
Gordhan has since announced that the sale of the 51% stake in the SAA to Takatso has been cancelled. The cancellation came almost three years after the consortium was announced as the preferred bidder to acquire SAA - implying a total valuation of R100.
His announcement came after months of drama and fights with the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on public enterprises, which has been demanding answers from Gordhan after Tlhakudi accused him of corruption in the deal.
This was after Tlhakudi submitted a protected disclosure and oral presentation before the committee which found that Gordhan failed to submit relevant documents regarding the deal.
The portfolio committee has also referred the matter to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for further investigation.
Tlhakudi had told the committee that Takatso was not among the shortlisted bidders, and further said that the company did not have the financial and technical capacity, but Gordhan maintained that Takatso was the best deal. He said this was because airline transaction was seen as an opportunity to benefit a few privileged individuals favoured by Gordhan in an irregular manner.
In a letter written to Ramaphosa on April 30, 2024, Tlhakudi asked what Ramaphosa would do to ensure that Gordhan is held accountable for his conduct. He said this also cost the country and employees of South Africa dearly.
Tlhakudi said his request was in consideration with Ramaphosa’s commitment in the past to ensuring a professional and capable public service.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, on Friday said Ramaphosa has not received the correspondence and would not engage with Tlhakudi in public.
Tlhakudi, who was fired in 2022, said the portfolio committee, which concluded its work, also found that there was a lack of transparency on the SAA transaction, and the lack of documentary evidence further cast aspersions and doubt on whether SAA transaction was indeed above board.
He said the report denoted the end of the investigation instigated by his protected disclosure, and the committee has gone further and recommended that the Takatso transaction be referred to the SIU for further investigation.
“Minister Gordhan, despite receiving my advice (that of the National Treasury, and from others outside the public service on the same red flags that I had raised) chose to plough ahead with the Takatso transaction, and concealed information on the transaction citing incorrigible phrases such as “commercial confidence” and “the transaction being in a closed period” amongst others.
“It was therefore not surprising that there was a collective sigh of relief across the country when it was announced that the Cabinet, on March 13 2024, directed that the Takatso transaction be cancelled,” said Tlhakudi.
He said section 96 (1) of the Constitution demands that members of the cabinet and deputy ministers must act in accordance with a code of ethics prescribed by the national legislation. However, the conduct of Gordhan placing a national asset at risk through collusion with politically connected individuals for enrichment was contrary to these prescripts.
“Further, the Minister coerced officials to lie to the South African public to hide his wrongdoing. There are adequate recordings in the public arena to support this allegation.
“I would therefore like to get guidance from the President on the next steps in dealing with my protected disclosure now that Parliament has concluded its work. I would also like to remind the President that I lost my job as the director general of the Department of Public Enterprises, and my career in the public service for daring to raise my concern with the Takatso transaction.
“I am therefore asking the President, considering your commitment in the past to ensuring a professional and capable public service, what will the President be doing to ensure that Minister Gordhan is held accountable for his conduct, which has cost this country and the employees of SA dearly, and that there is some restoration for those affected by his trail of destruction,” Tlhakudi said.
Gordhan, who has been in politics since the beginning of SA’s democracy and previously served as finance minister, is set to retire after the elections on May 29.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za