JOHANNESBURG - It is now more than 100 days since the damning Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report was made public which implicated African National Congress chief whip in the Gauteng legislature Brian Hlongwa in R1.2 billion of corrupt activities when he was health MEC from 2006 to 2009, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
"This has been tracked every day by the DA’s 'Hlongwa Monitor' which today [Sunday] recorded that 101 days have passed, but Gauteng premier David Makhura has still not fired Hlongwa from his senior position in the legislature," DA spokesman Jack Bloom said.
It was reported on July 28, 2014 that the allegations against Hlongwa were referred to the ANC’s provincial integrity commission "but nothing happened", he said.
This year, ANC Gauteng secretary Jacob Khawe said Hlongwa would appear before the ANC’s provincial integrity commission headed by Trevor Fowler from August 11 to 15.
"Meanwhile, Hlongwa was re-elected as a member of the ANC’s provincial executive committee, together with disgraced former health MEC Qedani Mahlangu who was also supposed to appear before the integrity commission in connection with the [Life] Esidimeni tragedy," Bloom said.
The SIU report showed how “state capture” occurred when a private company took over management functions within the Gauteng health department and awarded fishy tenders worth more than R1.2 billion, with alleged kickbacks to Hlongwa, he said.
The department had never recovered from this dark period which precipitated the current public health crisis in Gauteng. It was a disgrace that the ANC failed to act against Hlongwa, who earned R1.4 million a year as chief whip, Bloom said.