Finally buckling under pressure from unrelenting whistleblowers, water & sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina has told parliament she has launched a forensic probe into allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the Umgeni-uThukela Water (UUW) utility.
On Friday, Majodina wrote a letter to DA MP Leon Basson, chair of the portfolio committee on water & sanitation, informing him of the probe into boardroom shenanigans at UUW.
This comes in the wake of a series of stories published by the Sunday Times in the past few months exposing corruption and mismanagement at UUW, including claims of board members paying themselves millions in meeting fees without ministerial approval; overpaying legal firms linked to some of them; and funding international sporting junkets for some staff members seen as favourites of certain executives and board members.
Majodina acted after whistleblowers wrote to her on Wednesday threatening to report her inaction on alleged corruption and gross mismanagement at UUW to law enforcement agencies such as the SAPS, the public protector, the auditor-general (AG), and parliament. The whistleblowers also threatened to lay criminal charges against the minister.
“From the month of August, we have submitted a series of allegations levelled against the board of UUW. We have consistently warned the honourable minister that the board of UUW is in a state of crisis, and the company is falling apart. Minister, you can’t ignore this any longer,” whistleblower “Sobhuza” wrote to Majodina this week.
“Minister, it is time [for you to choose] between protecting the board [and] the CEO and your career as [a] minister and politician.”
Minister, it is time [for you to choose] between protecting the board [and] the CEO and your career as [a] minister and politician.
— — Anonymous UUW whistleblower ‘Sobhuza’
The letter was also forwarded to Basson and the AG.
This correspondence apparently triggered Majodina — who until now had merely referred the UUW governance issues to her department’s internal audit unit — to now appoint “an independent forensic investigation firm” to “conduct a thorough and impartial assessment of allegations”.
The scope of the probe by the yet-to-be-named forensic investigating firm includes verifying allegations; conducting compliance investigations; deciding whether criminal conduct has occurred; assessing financial losses suffered; and making liability determinations, among other tasks.
Majodina’s office had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.
In her letter to Basson, the minister also told him that the forensic probe would be concluded within the next three months.
“This initiative is intended to ensure a comprehensive, fact-based evaluation, aligned with the principles of accountability and good governance,” she wrote.
“The appointed investigation team will comprise five professionals with the requisite expertise to undertake this investigation. The investigation is scheduled to commence within one month.”
While they welcomed the investigation, the whistleblowers said they remained sceptical about whether the graft would be properly uncovered.
“As you may have noticed in all our write-ups, we have pre-warned you and the portfolio committee at all times about the steps that we would take — and have done exactly what we have set out in our steps," they said in their letter to Majodina.
“We are patient, Minister, [but] your inability to act and your active protection of the board will require you to answer [the allegations] sooner or later. We are done with the process of reporting to the board and [you]. We will now proceed and report to the governing structures and authorities. We anticipate there will be casualties or deaths in the process, especially [for] those who [have exposed the] (mis)governance.”
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