The Gauteng Legislature is embroiled in a scandal involving bogus claims and the misuse of resources by MPLs and staff – abetted by political interference from the provincial ANC.
This is detailed in a recent report in News24.
According to the report, 32 employees of the legislature and two MPLs were identified as having defrauded the institution, which led its erstwhile Secretary, Peter Skosana, to take measures to recover the money. The irregular expenditure had been detected by the Auditor General.
However, then Speaker of the legislature, Ntombi Mekgwe, along with colleagues in the provincial ANC leadership intervened to halt the disciplinary processes.
Mekgwe alleged that Skosana’s actions were harming the ANC’s prospects in the 2024 election. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) was objecting to the action taken against its members.
It seems that Mekgwe became particularly concerned when the first employee was found to have defrauded the legislature of R8 500 and was dismissed; at this point she instructed Skosana to put the matter “into abeyance”.
Subsequently, she applied significant pressure to Skosana to drop the cases in view of the coming election. Nehawu had allegedly told its ANC counterparts that it could not campaign for a party while its members were being put through disciplinary cases.
Eventually, the ANC determined that Skosana should be removed. He resisted, arguing that his office had a duty to safeguard funds and take action where irregularities had occurred.
In January, Mekgwe told Skosana via WhatsApp “I am at the stage where I feel you are either undermining me or do not care nor appreciate our intervention since you do not even explain about that agreement.”
Two months later, Skosana was notified of an intention to suspend him on charges of insubordination. He was subsequently paid out R6 million to leave the legislature, in lieu of his continuing with the remainder of his contract.
The legislature claims to be still investigating the expenditure.