Officials in the Department of Defence and Military Veterans are accused of trying to manipulate records to cover up for deputy minister Thabang Makwetla after he allegedly crashed a state vehicle.
But the department has dismissed the allegations, saying it had handled the incident transparently and even filed an accident report with the police.
Officials who did not want to be named said there was pressure by those sympathetic to Makwetla to manipulate records to create an impression the VIP protection vehicle he crashed belonged to the departmental fleet. Details about the cause of the accident were unclear at the time of going to print and there was no evidence that those behind the attempted cover up were acting at his behest.
“Some officials wanted to list the state car that had been in an accident with the deputy minister driving as part of the departmental fleet. When other officials asked for a police accident report, which was not forthcoming, they refused to do what was asked,” said the official.
Defence spokesperson Cornelius Monama denied claims there was no accident report. “The matter was reported to the police,” he said without providing a case number.
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