Patricia De Lille: But, Mr President, there's more...
14 September 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa last week to ask him to take action against the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia De Lille on the basis of several allegations of political meddling in her Department. The allegations are serious – some from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and National Treasury, while others form part of a legal wrangle between her and the Director-General of the Department, Advocate Sam Vukela.
There has been no response yet from the Presidency. Maybe he is still not convinced that Minister De Lille’s interference in her Department is part of a pattern of political meddling and that she is, by law, prohibited in interfering with the functioning of the Department.
Perhaps, some additional examples will assist the President in his deliberations.
For example, the Minister’s former Legal Advisor was tasked by the Minister with attempting to mediate a dispute between the Independent Development Trust (IDT) and a contractor while the two entities were involved in litigation. The SIU report on the matter had already instructed the Department to list the contractor and other related companies on the database as companies that should not be used for government business. Following legal advice, the former CEO of the IDT, Coceko Pakade, informed the Minister’s Legal Advisor in writing that they were “concerned about a process of mediation being initiated with persons … that have engaged in fraud, fronting and other illegal activities…”. It is inconceivable that any mediation process by the Minister should have been attempted under such circumstances.