President Cyril Ramaphosa and his economic cluster ministers are set for a grilling by MPs when they appear before the National Assembly to answer questions this week.
On Wednesday finance minister Tito Mboweni will field questions about the IMF loan, the government’s infrastructure build programme and corruption relating to Covid-19 procurement contracts, among other things.
In July the IMF announced it had approved a R70bn loan for SA to help manage the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 600,000 people and killed almost 13,000.
Mboweni will be asked whether there were transactional advisers involved in securing the loan and, if so, how much they were paid.
The finance minister will also be asked about the appointment of the interim board at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and what process was followed. The mandate of the interim board led by Reuel Khoza, which was appointed in July 2019, expired in July.
Mboweni will be asked what measures the Treasury has taken or will take to bring accounting officers implicated in the Covid-19 procurement scandal to book to recover misappropriated funds.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is probing corruption linked to the procurement of personal protective equipment to help the country combat the spread of Covid-19, after Ramaphosa signed a proclamation authorising them to probe unlawful and improper conduct in the procurement of goods and services.
On Thursday Ramaphosa will be asked whether the SIU requested assistance from the cabinet in conducting its investigations. The president appointed a six-member cabinet committee, led by justice minister Ronald Lamola, to deal with alleged corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 services.
The president will also be asked whether he has received the comprehensive report from the cabinet committee, containing the full details of all tenders and contracts awarded by the government and its entities during the lockdown period.
Meanwhile, MPs are set to ask employment & labour minister Thulas Nxesi on Wednesday what his plans are to ensure employers who applied for the Covid-19 relief fund don’t retrench workers soon after receiving the funding; address rising unemployment; and what action he intends taking against employers who received relief funding but had not passed it down to their employees.
Agriculture minister Thoko Didiza will be asked when she will announce the relevant details of the beneficiaries of her department’s R1.3bn Covid-19 agriculture disaster fund.
On Wednesday the portfolio committee on co-operative governance & traditional affairs will be briefed by the North West provincial government on the status of the section 100 intervention in the province.
The province was placed under administration by Ramaphosa in May 2018, after cabinet invoked section 100(1) of the constitution, after weeks of civil unrest that toppled former premier Supra Mahumapelo.
On Monday and Tuesday trade union federation and ANC ally Cosatu will hold its central executive committee meeting where issues relating to the Covid-19 procurement corruption, organisational matters and economic growth will be discussed.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.