The EFF has opened a case of corruption against Dean Macpherson, the Minister of Infrastructure and Public Works.
EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini led the charge on Wednesday morning as the case was formally opened at the Pretoria Central police station.
Macpherson, a DA MP, is accused of misconduct and interference in governance processes, which Dlamini interprets as corruption.
Macpherson allegedly e-mailed a junior employee directly to request a report on payment delays, circumventing the Independent Development Trust’s (IDT) established governance structures.
The e-mail was sent on December 9.
The programme manager allegedly received instructions to make payments to Lonerock Construction, a company that the IDT had chosen to repair sinkholes at Waterkloof Air Force Base.
Governance structures undermined
Dlamini claimed that the IDT’s governance structures were undermined and that the intervention muddled the boundaries of authority.
He emphasised that this conduct was unacceptable and that it warranted urgent legal action.
According to Dlamini, Macpherson’s decision to ignore the IDT leadership and issue directives demonstrated his interest in corrupt practices.
“He leaves the DG [director-general] and doesn’t go to the board or the leadership at the IDT,” Dlamini said.
“He goes to a staff member to demand specific payment for one contractor when the IDT is not only working here in Tshwane but working all over South Africa.
“He has different projects, but he goes and pulls one out of them, a white-owned company called Lonerock.”
He went on to say that they have given the police enough proof of Macpherson’s meddling.
This includes the attempted ignorance of the 20% variation that needed approval from the National Treasury.
Corruption tendencies
According to Dlamini, these acts go against the values of accountability and openness, which are essential to how the government functions.
“We have opened a case of corruption against the minister because what he has done shows corruption tendencies to demand specific payment of a contractor,” he said.
“There are contractors that are still owed by this incompetent government, all the way from the Eastern Cape and anywhere else.
“But he goes and picks one white contractor, whom we believe are his own friends and his beneficiates.”
He stated that in order to make sure Macpherson is held responsible, the EFF will keep an eye on the case’s development.
Macpherson’s spokesperson, James de Villiers, stated that in October 2024, Rudi Dicks, the head of the Presidency’s project management office, brought up with the minister the issue of the IDT’s repeated failure to pay for services provided by Lonerock Construction.
De Villiers claims that Dicks designated Linet Barnes as the IDT’s point of contact after the organisation missed several deadlines to pay Lonerock the nearly R19-million plus interest that was owed over a 20-month period.
He said despite numerous promises since July 2024, the IDT failed to make any payments.
Failure to submit audited financial statements
“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 e-mail in question to any journalist that asked. That is hardly the behaviour of someone involved in corrupt activities.”
Additionally, the DA refuted the accusations made against Macpherson, stating that the IDT has been beset by poor management, including the non-submission of audited financial statements since August 2024.
The DA spokesperson, Willie Aucamp, claimed that this resulted in serious financial difficulties and contended that these difficulties are more indicative of internal problems than of wrongdoing on Macpherson’s part.
“Minister Macpherson is doing the right thing by unearthing and investigating serious corruption and by stopping the IDT deal,” said Aucamp.
“It is a new culture of corruption-busting, which is what the DA proudly brings to government when we come into office.”
