No clarity on Mti's 'new job'

2006-11-10 13:46

Johannesburg - Confusion reigned on Friday over the "appointment" of outgoing prisons chief Linda Mti as security head of the 2010 World Cup local organising committee (LOC).

Mti and his department spoke as if the appointment was a given fact, while LOC spokesperson Tumi Makgabo could not confirm that the job was his.

Makgabo said, "the reality is, he was approached" by the LOC. However, to the best of her knowledge, nothing had yet been finalised with regard to contracts, documentation, and the like.

"So that is where we are," she said.

LOC head Danny Jordaan wasn't immediately available for comment.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour's spokesperson. Luphumzo Kebeni said the LOC had "approached [Mti] a few months ago".

"As far as we know", it had been agreed he would only be relieved of his correctional services duties towards the end of the year.

'I was asked to go'

The department wanted to retain his services until all outstanding issues had been finalised.

This was the reason he had not already left the department for the LOC in mid-year, Kebeni said.

The Star reported Mti on Friday as saying he "felt honoured" by his appointment.

"The consideration of going to 2010 was not mine. I was asked to go to that portfolio a year ago," he said.

Government revealed on Thursday that Mti resigned at the beginning of the month and would leave his post at the end of November.

Correctional Services said the national commissioner made the move to head security arrangements for the 2010 World Cup.

His resignation came days after Johannesburg police confirmed that Mti had been arrested for drunken driving. He was released on a warning and will appear in court in January.

'I'm keeping quiet'

On Thursday, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said it was still investigating allegations that Mti benefited from correctional services tenders worth R800m.

Mti told The Star he had "been through hell" during the past four days.

"I'm not able to think straight. People have been writing about me without bothering to phone me for the past four days," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

"That's why I'm keeping quiet and leaving everything to my lawyer."

He would not go into details surrounding his arrest on a drunken driving charge last week.

Mti said he would make a full statement on his new appointment, and presumably the allegations against him, after consulting with Balfour.

- SAPA