South African communication minister Dina Pule has responded to the accusations of corruption against her by opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA), calling the allegations political point scoring.
HumanIPO reported yesterday (Wednesday) on the DA’s Marian Shinn, shadow minister of communication, laying charges of corruption against Dina Pule.
Pule has responded to the charges, saying Shinn was using her position for political reasons.
“She is more than happy to use government resources to score cheap political points,” Pule said in a statement issued by spokesperson Siyabulela Qoza.
Investigations by public protector Thuli Madonsela and Parliament’s ethics committee are underway.
The main focus of the investigations pertain to Pule’s behaviour with reference to the funding withdrawals during June last year, around the time of the ICT Indaba.
The Department of Communications (DoC) pointed to the legal justification of the DA’s action, saying: “This is a right that the DA also enjoys.”
However, its scepticism about Shinn’s motive is clear.
“Perhaps, Honourable Ms Shinn, as a Member of Parliament, can enlighten South Africans about what she knows about Parliament and the public protector that makes her impatient about their work,” the DoC stated.
“She clearly doesn’t want to wait for the outcomes of due processes undertaken by the two institutions.”
Meanwhile, Shinn stands firm on being intolerant of corruption.
“Corruption cannot be tolerated at any level and any warranted suspicion of corruption of public representatives should be fully investigated by South African Police Service (SAPS),” Shinn said yesterday.
HumanIPO reported last month on allegations of nepotism against Pule.
