COSATU welcomes ruling by Ethics Committee on former minister Dina Pule

The Congress of South African Trade Union welcomes the ruling by parliament's Joint Ethics committee on the former minister Dina Pule. After a lengthy probe that began in March 2013 the committee found Ms Pule guilty of breaching the code of conduct for Members of Parliament and recommended that she be reprimanded by the speaker of the National Assembly during a sitting of the House, fined an equivalent of 30 days salary, suspended from her privileges for 15 days and be excluded from any parliamentary debates or committees during that period.

COSATU believes that the sanctions imposed on her are a mere slap in the wrist considering that she deliberately misled parliament, despite the numerous opportunities that she was afforded to come clean and declare her interests and that of her de facto permanent spouse who was found to have benefitted substantially from his relationship with her, most particularly through the ICT Indaba which her department hosted last year.

On the other hand, we welcome the committee's recommendations that the matter must be referred to police for further investigation.

This case must serve as a reminder to those who continue to misuse the positions of authority that they been entrusted with, to benefit themselves and those that are close to them, that the law has a very long arm.

Corruption is a serious plague that continues to eat the very fabric of the society that the African National Congress seeks to build. Maximum penalties must be imposed on those who benefit from or engage in corrupt activities - in this instance, the former minister's de facto permanent spouse, the high level officials of the department of communications who may have committed perjury in their evidence and colluded with her.

Statement issued by Vusumuzi Bhengu, The Shopsteward Editor, COSATU, August 8 2013

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