The Democratic Alliance has laid criminal charges against Deputy President Paul Mashatile at the Cape Town Central Police Station in the Western Cape on Monday.
The party cited a multitude of questionable transactions in response to a string of impactful investigative reports by various journalists. These reports detailed Mashatile’s purported involvement in a wide-reaching network of corruption and state capture dating back nearly two decades to his tenure as Gauteng MEC.
Party leader, John Steenhuisen, stated that he felt compelled to act after submitting a dossier to President Cyril Ramaphosa, urging him to take action against Mashatile prior to the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“You cannot stand before the nation at the State of The Nation Address and talk about combatting corruption and getting to the bottom of graft and eliminating state capture in the country, then the very person occupying office across from you at the Union Buildings who himself has got this serious cloud over his head.
“We wish it would have been different, we wish the president had the courage that he was undertaking an investigation, he was submitting Mr Mashatile to a lifestyle audit, but once again he’s chosen not to act and we now have to step into that,” Steenhuisen said.
Furthermore, the party also submitted a formal complaint to parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests for a breach of the members’ Code of Conduct by Mashatile, for failure to disclose registrable interests, or for wilfully or grossly negligently, providing the Registrar with incorrect or misleading details.
“It comes as no surprise that President Ramaphosa has, once again, done nothing to act against the corrupt cadres within his government and within his own party. In light of President Ramaphosa’s indifference and sheer paralysis, the DA has now taken matters into our own hands to rid our country and its government of the ANC’s corruption.”
Additionally the party said that had President Ramphosa instituted lifestyle audits for his cabinet ministers, as promised in his first SONA, all of the allegations levelled against Paul Mashatile would have come to light for the requisite action to be taken.
“This entire sordid debacle is proof that President Ramaphosa was never serious about dealing with corruption in his government and within the ANC.”
“The integrity of the South African government is laughable when our country’s second in command has such a large cloud of dire corruption allegations hanging over his head. President Ramaphosa can no longer bury his head in the sand and hope it will somehow blow over. There now exists more than sufficient evidence to suggest that Paul Mashatile is, and has been involved in egregious corruption during his tenure of various executive positions over the past two decades, and it is now time for him to face the consequences,” Steenhuisen said.
In Support of Mashatile
Previously, President Ramaphosa has upheld Mashatile, expressing his belief that there were no suspicions of criminality regarding his deputy’s connections with specific individuals.
“I would have to have my own head examined to have had a deputy president appointed and thereafter [removed], because I’m the only one who could remove him unless the party decides so and then does that. So there is no truth or substance at all as far as I’m concerned,” the President said at the time.
According to Mashatile’s spokesperson, Vukani Mde, speaking to The Citizen, the DA visited the Union Buildings just over a week ago, asserting they possessed a “dossier” intended for the President
In response, the Presidency released a statement reiterating that individuals with legitimate evidence of criminal misconduct have the right and obligation to approach the appropriate authorities for reporting. “Regardless of the DA’s actions,” Mde commented, “there is no further comment to add to that statement.”