Dean Macpherson, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, has disclosed that the department is looking into claims of corruption against SKG Africa.
He claimed that the public protector was notified of the allegations and that the sixth administration was made aware of them.
Macpherson claimed that since assuming office, he has also referred the case to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for a comprehensive examination.
“Where there is any wrongdoing in any contract by any individual, we will take action because this is what we have done and continue to do without fear or favour, no matter what the individual’s name may be,” said Macpherson.
He asserted that the department had also taken action against a fraudulent tender that the Independent Development Trust had issued to bulk purchase a sizable oxygen tank for R800-million.
Macpherson stated that he was looking into the issue because of the grave health implications it has for the South African healthcare system.
Requests for funding repeatedly rejected
Parliamentarian Andile Mngxitama, a member of uMkhonto weSizwe, had claimed that Jean du Plessis, an executive at SKG Africa, based in the Eastern Cape, was corrupting the department.
In a speech directed at the minister, he asserted that if the department wished to eradicate corruption within the division, it should investigate Du Plessis.
According to Mngxitama, the bid adjudication committee has repeatedly rejected SKG’s request for funding for the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ office space contract.
Sunday World previously reported that Du Plessis’s affiliated companies secured at least 81 government leasing contracts worth R42-million per month, allegedly due to black economic empowerment (BEE) fronting.
In addition, Mngxitama filed a criminal case against the landlord of the dubbed government, accusing him of BEE fronting and asserting that he was given government leasing contracts worth billions of rands on the pretext that his businesses were owned by black people.
