Port Elizabeth - The Democratic Alliance in Nelson Mandela Bay have accused the provincial government, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as well as the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) of “conspiring to protect” the city's new head of safety and security, Linda Mti.
Former Correctional Services Commissioner, Linda Mti, has been appointed to head up the Metro Police Force. The DA claim he is being “protected from prosecution”.
At a press conference on Tuesday, DA mayoral candidate Athol Trollip, said that the DA would now present an SIU report to police and lay criminal charges against Mti.
Earlier last week the DA released a confidential SIU report, detailing an alleged corrupt relationship between Mti and Bosasa operations. Trollip claimed that SIU Head, Sefura Mongalo, lied to Eyewitness News on the Bosasa report, when he said it was only completed in April 2013 and handed over to the Presidency.
“The DA can disclose that this directly contradicts a 7 December 2009 NPA statement which explicitly outlines how the completed SIU report had been received and forwarded to SAPS for further investigation at a time when Willie Hofmeyr was still head of the SIU.
“Then Minister of Correctional Services, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, was also handed the report and chose to do nothing with it.The DA can thus reveal that the SIU is lying to delay the conclusion of this matter by claiming that their report was only completed 4 years later than it actually was,” said Trollip.
He added that he had written to NPA head Shaun Abrahams earlier in May requesting the disclosure of reasons as to why Mti had not yet been prosecuted.
“Having confirmed receipt of my letter, Abrahams has to date not responded to my request.
“Instead Abrahams' Chief of Staff Danie Schmidt wrote to me on 14 June 2016 claiming that no letter was received and that its contents were only revealed in the media over the weekend of the 11 and 12 June 2016 when myself and Glynnis Breytenbach MP held a press conference on this matter,” said Trollip.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the Eastern Cape said earlier this month that MEC Fikile Xasa had not yet received correspondence from the metro around the process of Mti's appointment.
Trollip said that despite the municipal systems act requiring approval from the MEC within 14 days, months had passed since Mti was appointed and without regularisation from the MEC.
“This string of lies, deception and obfuscation is symptomatic of an ANC and its various government agencies who continue to steadfastly defend corruption and cadre deployment,” said Trollip.
ANA