Africa-Press – South-Africa. The National Assembly has adopted a report of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests, finding ANC MP Mosebenzi Zwane guilty of a number of state capture-related charges.
The report was adopted in a sitting of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Zwane was appointed mineral resources minister by former president Jacob Zuma when state capture was at its peak.
Zwane will be fined five days’ salary, must issue apologies to the House, and may not participate in parliamentary debates for a full term.
Several charges were laid against Zwane by DA MP James Lorimer and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).
While the committee was investigating the matter, the Zondo Commission’s report – which described Zwane as a “Gupta Minister” – was published, and National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula referred it to the committee.
The committee processed it together with the Lorimer and OUTA complaints.
“Out of all evidence heard by the commission … the only reason that presents itself as the most probable reason why President Zuma chose Mr Zwane is that the Guptas wanted Mr Zwane for minster of mineral resources and President Zuma also wanted somebody that had the blessings of the Guptas and who would co-operate with them,” read the Zondo Report.
The committee found Zwane received benefits from the Guptas, which he did not disclose. This includes travel, hotel stays and “being chauffeur driven in a 7-series BMW”, all paid for by the Guptas. This will not cost him five days’ salary.
The committee found he abused his role on an interministerial committee by issuing a press release about the closure of the Guptas’ bank accounts.
For this, he must apologise.
The committee found Zwane breached the ethics code in appointing the Gupta’s business partners, Kuben Moodley and Malcolm Mabaso, as advisors.
For this, too, he must apologise.
He was found to be in breach of the ethics code for his role in the sale of Optimum coal mine to Tageta.
This costs him his seat in parliamentary debates for a full term.
“In this regard, the member failed to act of all occasions in accordance with the public trust placed in him and failed to maintain public confidence and trust in the integrity of Parliament and thereby engender the respect and confidence that society needs to have in Parliament as a representative institution,” read the committee’s report.
There were other charges against Zwane, including that he lied to Parliament on several occasions.
The committee did not make a finding on this, as it is up to the National Assembly to determine whether he lied to it.
The committee also did not find him in breach of the ethics code on account of being appointed at the Guptas’ behest.
“The committee found that the member did not breach the code on the aspect of his appointment as minister of mineral resources as the reason for the appointment falls to the former president, Mr Zuma.”
In his response to the ethics committee, Zwane denied most of the allegations against him.
Before he was elevated to Zuma’s Cabinet, Zwane was former Free State premier Ace Magashule’s MEC for agriculture.
He is currently out on bail with other Gupta associates after they were charged with fraud and corruption related to the Vrede dairy farm scam.
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