Ministers are clean – Mbeki

He says the accusations are motivated by the stereotype that black people are corrupt. The President, says a Mail & Guardian Online report, makes his comments in his regular Internet column, ANC Today. He says critics are aiming to project his ruling movement as being ‘nothing more than a cabal of mercenary politicians, posing as liberation fighters’ and motivated by the conviction that the ANC has been caught in the act of engagement in personal self-enrichment and parasitic capitalism. Mbeki was responding to media reports that two Cabinet Ministers, a deputy Minister and the National Assembly Speaker have shares in the consortium that is building the high speed Gautrain between Pretoria and Johannesburg. Full Business Day report Mbeki’s column

The Cabinet has also denied that there is a conflict of interest in Ministers holding shares in companies involved in the project. The government said that neither the bid nor the bidders were discussed at Cabinet level at any stage as this was the function of Gauteng province. Business Day says it also defended the right of Ministers to own shares in companies as long as they ‘declared’ them as required by law. Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Education Minister Naledi Pandor and the Speaker, Baleka Mbete, have admitted holding shares in the consortium building the Gautrain. Full Business Day report

Mbeki’s comments have sparked a stinging response from Cosatu. The union confederation vowed not to withdraw what it had said in the Gautrain matter and the involvement of Ministers. ‘We reiterate that it is wrong for political leaders who have been tasked to lead transformation to get involved in business deals that compromise their roles as government administrators.’ Cosatu, says a report on the Business Day site, said it was concerned that a growing number of ANC and government leaders had all manner of business interests, directly or through their spouses. ‘The President does not deny that ministers are shareholders in companies that are profiting from government contracts, and specifically from the Gautrain contract,’ Cosatu said. ‘On the contrary, the president seeks to justify this situation and to portray it as normal and even admirable.’ Full report on Business Day site