Police Minister Bheki Cele has been ordered to apologise for his “shut up”’ remarks against Ian Cameron of Action Society. Picture: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers
EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu has been docked a nine-day salary for failing to disclose payments linked to the VBS Mutual Bank.
Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said Shivambu, Police Minister Bheki Cele, and Deputy Minister of Small Business Development Dipuo Peters were found guilty of various breaches of the Ethics Code and the House imposed different sanctions on them.
Cele has been ordered to apologise for his “shut up” comments during an imbizo in Cape Town last year against Action Society leader Ian Cameron.
Peters was charged by the Ethics Committee for matters related to her previous role as Minister of Transport.
She was found guilty of failing to appoint a group CEO at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), and the recruitment process had cost Prasa R1.7 million. She breached the code of ethics by also dismissing the Prasa board that was chaired by Popo Molefe and for using Prasa buses for the ANC January 8 celebrations in 2015 without being paid for. Peters has been banned from parliamentary sittings and meetings for one term.
Shivambu was docked a nine-day salary for failing to disclose that R180,000 was deposited into his account from Sgameka Projects, which was run by his brother, Brian Shivambu.
Three separate transfers were made into Floyd Shivambu’s account in 2017.
Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday that Shivambu, Cele, and Peters have been slapped with different sanctions for their violations.
“The charges of breaching the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests for Assembly and Council Permanent, of which Peters and Shivambu have been found guilty, are very serious. The committee did not, however, recommend that a reprimand be issued. So there will be no reprimand. The committee found that the honourable Peters breached the code in three instances where she failed to act in accordance with the public trust placed in her and to discharge her obligations in terms of the Constitution.
“For the findings made by the committee that honourable Shivambu failed to comply with the requirements of the provisions for disclosing financial interests, the assembly has agreed to a reduction of nine days of salary against the member. The House will be informed of the implementation date of the sanction,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
On Cele, the Speaker said he must apologise for his remarks against Cameron in a meeting in Cape Town in July last year.
However, Cele was not in the House, and Mapisa-Nqakula said he was out of the country.
“The House has adopted the report concerning the honourable Cele, who is the Minister of Police. The recommendation of the report agreed to by this House is that the member enter an apology in the House for his conduct towards Ian Cameron, the director of community safety in Action Society, during a community meeting with the SAPS in the communities of Gugulethu and Nyanga on July 5, 2022,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
On Peters, she has been banned from attending meetings and sittings of parliament for a term.
This follows a complaint lodged by #UniteBehind that Peters had neglected her duties when the breaches occurred.
They asked the ethics committee to investigate her conduct during her tenure as Minister of Transport.
The ethics committee found her guilty of various breaches of the Ethics Code, and the Speaker said she will not attend parliamentary sessions. However, the speaker has not yet determined the date of the implementation of the sanction imposed on Peters.
“The assembly has agreed that for each instance, the member be suspended from her seat in all parliamentary debates and sittings and from committee meetings and committee-related functions and operations for one term of the parliamentary programme. The committee further recommended, and the House agreed that the suspension in all three breaches will run concurrently during a term. The House will be informed of the implementation date of the sanction,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.
Mapisa-Nqakula has also not yet determined the date of the implementation of sanctions against Shivambu and Cele.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics