AfriForum goes after Lesufi for “covering up corruption”
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is allegedly a central figure in a massive cover-up of rampant corruption, money laundering and fraud that has cost the provincial government hundreds of millions of rand that was allocated to the Department of Social Development (DSD) to support needy NGOs. That is according to a whistleblower being represented by AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit. In this interview with BizNews, the unit's spokesperson Barry Bateman says the whistleblower is "a very senior person" with "intimate knowledge of what Panyaza and senior officials in the department have allegedly been doing". Bateman adds: "The buck has to stop somewhere. We say it stops at Premier Lesufi. We expect a letter from the Premier. We have written formally. We would like to see a response to our questions… Failing that, we will explore other avenues to hold the officials accountable. We have not ruled out approaching the courts…"
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Extended transcript of the interview
Chris Steyn (00:02.335)
AfriForum is going after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi for allegedly covering up corruption. We speak to Barry Bateman of the Private Prosecution Unit of AfriForum. Morning Barry.
Barry Bateman (00:16.255)
Good morning Chris, thanks for having me.
Chris Steyn (00:18.825)
What are these allegations?
Barry Bateman (00:21.154)
Well, the allegation is that despite numerous reports, forensic investigation reports that uncovered serious corruption, money laundering within the Department of Social Development going as far back as 2017 financial year, the office of the Premier, Mr. Panyaza Lesufi, has allegedly taken decisions within the department so as to not hold those implicated officials accountable.
In fact, the thirteen officials that were suspended on the basis of these reports – the suspension started in middle of last year and there were suspensions earlier this year; those suspensions have in fact been lifted; the officials are all back at work now. This is widely reported that the officials are back at work and they are back once again in charge of dispersing and engaging with the non-profit organisations worth hundreds of millions of rand.
The further allegation is that – and you know Gauteng department, the provincial government spends a lot of money commissioning forensic investigation reports; they get these findings which make adverse findings against officials but further reports are commissioned to review the previous reports because what we understand and the allegations that is where there is adverse findings, you commission somebody else to review until you get a favourable findings. It's all part of an attempt to try and make these allegations go away.
We say that that there must be criminal prosecution, the disciplinary internally must proceed – and if there has been a failure in terms of the law by the senior officials including Panyaza Lesufi to report specific crimes as is required, they too must be held accountable.
Chris Steyn (02:07.135)
Who made these allegations, Barry?
Barry Bateman (02:09.345)
Well we've got a whistleblower, somebody very senior in the Gauteng provincial government, somebody that is very concerned about what is happening. We were approached by this person a few months ago when that decision was taken to uplift the suspension of the officials. It became evident to this person that attempts to hold those accountable were being thwarted. So they approached us and the reason they approached us as an anonymous whistleblower – but we know who the individual is – but the reason they approach us is because of government's absolute failure to protect whistleblowers. Because we've seen people who try and do what is right to hold people accountable, they in turn become the targets for victimisation and they get worked out of the system. So the person is a very senior person. They have intimate knowledge of what Panyaza and senior officials in the department have allegedly been doing – and they would like to see the implicated officials held accountable.
Chris Steyn (03:10.303)
And what proof has been provided of these allegations?
Barry Bateman (03:15.703)
Well, let's have a look at what we have in terms of the allegations against the officials. We've got half a dozen forensic investigation reports dating back where the first one was handed into the government as far back as 2019. The reports are very detailed. They identify the individuals by name, how they operated within the broader scheme, how they approved certain funds to be moved to non-profit organisations as well as conflicts of interest between these officials and the external NPOs and their suppliers.
So goes even further. So we have that evidence.
And then we have what is publicly known. It has become public knowledge that the officials were suspended, that the suspensions were subsequently lifted. The allegations also further covered Ground Up has done extensive work on these various allegations. So we know that the suspensions were lifted.
We now have somebody who is on the inside saying that the reason for these various decisions, which has thwarted attempts to proceed with the disciplinary inquiries.
Just another point there, Chris, as well. A law firm was appointed, it got to as far as a law firm being appointed to conduct the disciplinary inquiries. Their mandate was terminated and the suspensions were uplifted.
Now we've got somebody internally telling us who is allegedly responsible for all those decisions and it goes all the way to the top. We're asking for answers.
Chris Steyn (04:44.457)
Now, Mr. Lesufi says that the letter AfriForum sent him is the opposite of what is contained in your media release.
Barry Bateman (04:53.132)
I saw that, but I'm not too sure what exactly he's referring to because the media release is based exactly on what is contained in the letter. He posted a screen grab of the first page of the letter. I suggest he reads the whole thing.
Chris Steyn (05:08.177)
Now, how is AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit going forward with this, Barry?
Barry Bateman (05:13.193)
Well, we've written this letter, we formally represent the whistleblower, we have asked pertinent questions, we argue that it's in the public interest that the Premier provide answers to the public.
This is all about clean governance. All we're asking for is that the implicated officials be held accountable and the government do what is required in terms of the law and its own internal policies to hold people accountable.
And in the absence of those procedures going ahead, we need to know why.
The buck has to stop somewhere. We say it stops at Premier Lesufi. We expect a letter from the Premier. We have written formally. We would like to see a response to our questions. We say it's in the public interest.
Failing that, we will explore other avenues to hold the officials accountable. We have not ruled out approaching the courts to obtain a mandamus, for example. That's just one of the avenues. Of course, there's also approaching the authorities to ensure that the authorities do what they are required to do to hold the people accountable.
Chris Steyn (06:15.369)
Thank you. That was Barry Bateman of the Private Prosecution Unit of AfriForum speaking to BizNews about allegations that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi covered up corruption. Thank you Barry. and I'm Chris Steyn
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