Shabangu complains to protector

2011-12-09 07:21

Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has received a letter of complaint from businessman Roux Shabangu, her office said on Thursday.

Madonsela had decided to conduct a preliminary investigation with a view to establishing if the matters Shabangu raised were not covered in the special investigating unit (SIU) investigation into lease deals, said her spokesperson Kgalelo Masibi.

"By the time Mr Shabangu’s complaint reached the public protector, she was already in the process of investigating allegations of maladministration with regard to the leasing of the [Independent Complaints Directorate] headquarters," said Masibi.

In that investigation, allegations had been made regarding the relationship between Shabangu suspended public works director general Sam Vukela.

"The ICD investigation is proceeding and the issues there that are being considered include the allegations regarding the relationship between Mr Vukela and Mr Shabangu."

194 lease agreements

In his letter, Shabangu claimed that 194 lease agreements with the public works department were concluded without a tender process.

He said 73% of all lease agreements concluded by the department in Pretoria were through the negotiated bid process and not through tenders.

This was the same process followed with the police headquarters in the Pretoria Middestad, he said.

Shabangu asked Madonsela to look into the other leases to determine whether they all qualified for the negotiated bid process.

In October, Madonsela found that the procurement of two leases for new police headquarters in Pretoria and Durban, involving Shabangu, were unlawful and that they amounted to maladministration. The leases were worth R1.6bn.

Following the report, President Jacob Zuma suspended national police commissioner Bheki Cele and dismissed public works minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.

- SAPA