Johannesburg - “It was a terrible experience. I would not wish it on anyone,” said Philisiwe Mthethwa, the chief executive of the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) of her ordeal when she was investigated for alleged corruption.
In an interview this week, a clearly relieved Mthethwa was her chirpy self again.
An independent forensic investigation was ordered by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies into Mthethwa and two employees of the NEF, following allegations by an anonymous whistleblower.
The NEF is an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).
The board of directors of the development finance institution appointed Deloitte to do the probe and the result was the three were exonerated.
The audit firm found there was no basis for allegations of misconduct relating to breaches of corporate governance, conflicts of interest, fraud, nepotism, tribalism and abuse of power against the three.
The Francophile said the NEF had a clean audit for the last eight years under her watch, involving auditing firms such as PwC and SizweNtsalubaGobodo.
“You cannot tell me that with this army of independent auditors, they would not have picked up corruption long ago,” Mthethwa said.
Mthethwa, the wife of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, said she did not know who the whistleblower was.
She said: “I suspect the person sits on the management and executive committees where lawyers, finance people, accountants and others also sit. He or she does not understand the workings of these committees. That person sits there because I want to empower people, particularly from the support divisions, so that they end up understanding issues.”
This was yet another storm Mthethwa has weathered. The other was the the controversial loan of R34.1 million to Luminance, a luxury goods store.
When an uproar ensued over the loan, Davies requested a detailed report from the NEF regarding the funding.
Mthethwa said Deloitte also looked into allegations that an attorney in her office had rendered services to Mthethwa with regards to the arrangements of her wedding in Cape Town in February.
Mthethwa was also cleared on this by the probe.
She said: “I engaged a professional wedding planner. There was no way the attorney could have made the arrangements from Johannesburg. And how can a lawyer organise weddings?”
Mthethwa said she was in no hurry to leave the NEF, although there already was a suitor for her job.
“There is just one person who is interested in my job. I said to her: ‘Go back to school because a person who does not have a degree cannot do the job’,” she said.
Mthethwa was at one time rumoured to be headed for the Industrial Development Corporation.
She said: “I cannot leave the NEF in a chaotic state; I cannot leave before its recapitalisation. I have taken the NEF to where it is today, with an investment portfolio of R33bn.”
In May, the NEF said it had suspended approval of new transactions while it and the government assessed and eventually concluded a drive to recapitalise the lender to better meet the needs of black entrepreneurs.
Mthethwa said discussions with the dti were ongoing. “You must understand we are dealing with a fiscal issue here. We are also looking at other possibilities of raising money from third parties,” she said.
Business Report