It is likely that controversial Communications Minister Dina Pule will be given the boot by South African President Jacob Zuma in the next few weeks.
Pule has been accused of channelling large sums of money into the account of her alleged lover Phosane Mngqibisa.
In August 2013, departmental staff leaked a dossier to the Mail & Guardian newspaper in which they alleged that Pule had connived to fill key positions in her department, the South African Post Office and the SABC through nepotism and the promotion of cronies.
The Mail & Guardian, during the course of its investigations, found that Mngqibisa had very close political ties with the ANC. When confronted with the allegations, Pule rejected them as being the result of a 'vendetta' and 'witch-hunt' against her or even Zuma. Sources close and sympathetic to her said it appeared to be a smear campaign to embarrass her and Zuma ahead of the ANC conference in Mangaung in December.
Werksmans Attorneys, acting for donor MTN, revealed that Mngqibisa had inappropriately benefited by some R6 million from an ICT Indaba held in Cape Town last year.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and Parliament's ethics committee have begun investigating the alleged irregularity.
The Sunday Independent reported today that it understood Pule had met with Zuma asking to be redeployed to an ambassadorial post knowing she was on the point of being fired. If it is found that she was complicit in corruption involving Mngqibisa, it would be a travesty of justice for Jacob Zuma to give her an official position and it would fly in the face of the ANC's much-vaunted Integrity Commission. It would send a clear signal to South Africa's citizens that the ANC looks after its crooks and has little or no interest in serving the cause of justice.
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