The DA has not been able to trace the docket with the details of the SAPS investigation into the activities of Dina Pule. – image – www.iol.co.za
The Democratic Alliance has resolved that the docket on the Dina Pule investigation must be missing or, the police are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. Marian Shinn, the DA Shadow Minister of Communications came to this conclusion after several futile attempts to track the progress of the investigation.
Media reports say that Shinn has been unable to find out how the police proceeded with their investigation after she was told in June that the case had been escalated to the HAWKS. In May, the DA approached the Cape Town Central Police Station to request an investigation into the suspicious activities of former Communications Minister Dina Pule and her associates. The DA implicated Phosane Mngqibisa, a close friend of Pule, who was suspended from his executive management position at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The DA also asked the South African Police Services to investigate another employee of the SABC, group CEO Lulama Makhobo.
The SAPS promised to initiate an investigation and in the following month, the DA was told the anti-corruption unit of the HAWKS had taken over the investigation. When the DA sought confirmation about the status of the investigation, the HAWKS had no record of the case and they denied any responsibility in the investigation.
Marian Shinn pushed the matter further and directed her enquiries to the National Head of the HAWKS, Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat. He has not been able to shed any light on the issue of the missing docket or the investigation that no one will commit to.
The DA is concerned that the lack of responses and transparent communication regarding this investigation raises troublesome questions about political interference. The DA is adamant: “SAPS needs to explain where the corruption investigation docket into Dina Pule is. There is no exception when it comes to combatting corruption in South Africa’s government sector.”
