ActionSA has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to suspend Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson with immediate effect.
It is alleged that Macpherson circumvented the established governance structures of the Independent Development Trust (IDT) by sending a direct email to a junior employee asking for a report on payment delays.
The party will formally write to the public protector and the head of the Hawks, requesting that they give the complaints against Macpherson top priority, according to ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe.
South Africans deserve accountability
“Yesterday, explosive claims emerged implicating minister Macpherson in undue interference in procurement processes and an orchestrated smear campaign against the CEO of the Independent Development Trust,” Kobe said.
“Alarmingly, it is alleged that the minister bribed a journalist to assist in this scheme, raising serious concerns about his integrity and abuse of office.”
He emphasised that the authorities must move quickly to rebuild public trust in governance, saying that South Africans deserve accountability and transparency.
Additionally, Kobe urged Ramaphosa to be consistent in holding ministers responsible, pointing to a case involving Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane.
“Given the severity of the claims against minister Macpherson, we insist that President Ramaphosa uphold the same principle and suspend him pending the outcome of these deeply concerning investigations,” he said.
EFF opens criminal case
On Wednesday, the EFF opened a criminal case against Macpherson, claiming that his illegal actions and meddling in official affairs amounted to outright corruption.
The general secretary of the EFF, Marshall Dlamini, also asserted that Macpherson’s selection of one contractor from among other unpaid contracts raised questions.
“There are contractors that are still owed by this incompetent government, all the way from the Eastern Cape and anywhere else,” Dlamini said.
“But he goes and picks one white contractor, whom we believe are his own friends and his beneficiates.”
According to James de Villiers, Macpherson’s spokesperson, Rudi Dicks, the head of the Presidency’s project management office, discussed the IDT’s persistent non-payment of Lonerock Construction’s services with the minister in October 2024.
Orchestrated campaign to shield IDT
Dicks appointed Linet Barnes as the IDT’s point of contact, according to De Villiers, after the organisation missed multiple deadlines to pay Lonerock the nearly R19-million plus interest that was due over a 20-month period.
He said despite numerous promises since July 2024, the IDT failed to make any payments.
“The current public campaign against the minister is clearly linked to an orchestrated campaign to shield the IDT from its complete inability to manage its finances, run a functioning board, and deliver projects on time, as well as the scandals surrounding the oxygen plant tender,” said De Villiers.
“The minister has nothing to hide and has in fact provided the email in question to any journalist that asked.
“That is hardly the behaviour of someone involved in corrupt activities.”
