Gangster State

(Nora) #1

Letlaka Communications, was appointed as the exclusive printer and
distributor of provincial newsletters in August 2010.^5 Letlaka also
clinched a contract to provide the province with event management
services.^6
The Treasury report found that the establishment of a centralised
‘implementing’ unit for media services within the premier’s office was
unlawful, and that the contracts awarded to Letlaka were therefore also
in breach of the relevant legislation. According to the report, ‘all of the
other Provincial Departments, which purported to appoint the
Premier’s Office as their implementing agent, based on the direction of
the Premier’s Office, also contravened the applicable Legislative
Framework’.^7
The Treasury investigators called for ‘a more in-depth investigation
into Letlaka’s business in order to determine whether or not there may
be financial misconduct, which may lead to criminal charges’.^8 There
seemed to have been some solid grounds for their suspicions. Dan
Kgothule, a former MEC for sport, arts and culture in the Free State,
later claimed that Ntsele had tried to bribe him with a 30 per cent share
in Letlaka in exchange for advertising his department in Letlaka’s
publications.^9
Addressing the National Council of Provinces in November 2013 ,
then finance minister Pravin Gordhan discussed the report’s findings.
‘The report confirmed the existence of financial misconduct and
elaborated on the nature and extent thereof, as well as the responsible
parties within the department of the premier,’ he said. ‘Details were
provided in the report together with the recommendation that the
department of the premier should lay criminal charges with the SAPS
against the implicated parties.’^10

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