Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s attempts at drumming up good PR for his party in the GNU administration by appearing to be doing something has ended in tears.
This after the DA leader claimed there was R500-million missing from the department. The move was an obvious strategy by the blue party for its ministers to appear to be fighting corruption. Especially corruption of their ANC predecessors.
According to him, the department had been allocated R500-million to revamp a facility that produces vaccines for animals.
Vowed to commission a forensic report, but it was done already
Steenhusien boldly claimed that “the large amount went missing and is unaccounted for”. He added that he would commission a forensic report in this regard.
But it has since been revealed that the forensic report was done ages ago. And Steenhuisen was likely to claim glory for other people’s hard work.
National Assembly speaker Thokozile Didiza, who previously occupied Steenhuisen’s ministry, wasn’t having it. She came out to dismiss her successor’s claims as lack of learning and opportunism.
According to Didiza, this matter and others had been explained to Steenhuisen during the handover process. This is despite his continued claim of ignorance.
But clearly, Steenhuisen, who has previously come under fire for lacking a post-matric qualification, refuses to learn, said Didiza. She added that she was still available to school her successor.
“Former Minister Thoko Didiza has written to Minister John Steenhuisen on the matter of the R500-million scandal clarifying how during her tenure this matter was dealt with by the Board of OBP and the Management as well as the portfolio committee on agriculture, land reform and rural development,” reads a statement from Didiza’s office.
“Details of this matter will be found in the annual reports of OBP, including the audit report. A forensic report on the utilisation of some of the funds was done. It enabled the OBP to take some of the concerns of sub-contracting to the Special Investigative Unit (SIU).”
‘Steenhuisen might need further teaching and revision classes’
Didiza said it was obvious that Steenhuisen might need further teaching and revision classes. This on what he has already been told during the handover process.
“It is clear that despite former Minister Didiza’s efforts to help Minister Steenhuisen with the understanding of the intricacies of the department and its entities, during the handover process, this remains inadequate. To this end, former minister Didiza remains available to assist minister Steenhuisen about this and other matters,” said Didiza’s aide Reggie Ngcobo.
Didiza cautioned Steenhuisen to desist from claiming easy victories for PR purposes at the expense of “creating an impression that nothing was done to address these challenges by the previous administration”.
John Vuli gate is just playing a stupid game, which in this case is trying by all means to get involved. This guy lacks everywhere else accept as white miserable middle aged man who would do ultimately anything to have white people in RSA seen as victims. This story needs to be revisited as weeks and months pass by, because people like him we don’t need as a public servant.
I voted ANC during the Minister’s turnure and do not remember this being made public by her office then. That’s the root of the problem. They like keeping issues of public interest classified. Government is a public institution not a fifdom of the ANC nor any other political party for that matter. Speaker Didiza and her colleagues must learn this is why I split my vote this time around, so that these things will be exposed for accountability. Will this report be made public?
I’m tempted to ask why a person who doesn’t have any qualification is made a Minister in the first place yet people are told that education is the key to success but I won’t risk being ridiculed in this country that has gotten used to celebrating mediocrity.
As for the ANC this serves them right, had they pulled up their socks and didn’t take South African citizens for granted they would still be governing this country alone and hiding their dirty laundry as that is their specialty.