Public protector: Zille again violates ethics code. Works beyond her scope

Public Protector (PP) Busisiwe Mkhwebane released her findings this week that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille violated the members’ code of ethics and constitution by assisting her son and exposed herself to a conflict of interest.  Zille denied it and said she will take it on review.

This is the second finding Mkhwebane made against Zille.  The first was that her colonialism tweet was racist, which Zille also took on review.

The details of the case can be obtained in the PP’s full report here, but the basics were Zille facilitated her son Paul Maree’s company, Paper Video, to conduct a pilot project supplying educational software to be installed on computer tablets at schools in 2014. Maree was also a teacher at the school in question.

Zille’s supporters are outraged and have hurled abuse at Mkhwebane and those who criticise her, particularly on Politicsweb. Ironically, this week Mkhwebane also released finding that former Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula’s acceptance of Sedgards Sports sponsoring his family’s R680 000 holiday to Dubai and Treasury director-general failed to disclose that he'd been convicted of traffic offence in job application.  These passed with little adverse comment.

Having read the full report, and as a former accountant and auditor and from personal experience of how Zille and Western Cape (WC) government operate, I'm persuaded there's sufficient grounds for the PP's findings that Zille influenced the process, even if it wasn't her intention, that facilitated her son, a teacher in the project and director of a company that supplied the software, obtaining the contract.

I say this because she should not have, and ought to have known better, corresponded with WC officials about the project in which she mentions her son and his business partner by name including, “This is what Paul [her son] and Chris [his business partner and co-director] was aiming for and worked day and night for eight weeks. I am keen to encourage that level of interest wherever it raises its head”.

While Zille might not have intended it as interference in the procurement process on behalf of her son and his company, which the PP noted stands to gain from its association with WC, it can be argued it was a subtle pressure on the department and testimonial for them especially if her provincial minions thought it – awarding the contract to Maree – was what their Zille their boss would want.

There precedent for this. In 2012 a whistle blower provincial employee who publically was very critical of Zille and her colleagues was subjected to vindictive and baseless disciplinary charges by the WC government. It emanated either from Zille or sycophantic officials. Eventually the Labour Court threw out the charges, after the employee incurred substantial legal costs. Of course, Zille is like Zuma – she litigates at the taxpayer's expense, and loses.

Second, procurement for the computer tablets on which Paper Video software was to be installed was accelerated under “emergency procurement” for that very purpose. Thirdly and related, no other bids were invited except Maree's – it was an unsolicited, and closed, bid that was initiated by him.

Unfortunately, emergency procurement hides a lot of sins.  Incidentally, Zille has publically stated she's opposed to the state's supply chain process because it's allegedly too rigid. So I'm not surprised there was impropriety in the process given Zille's attitude which her minions will reflect – a lack of respect for accounting policy and procedures.  

As it happened, it involved her son here. The chickens have come home to roost. Remember, her email referred to her son and his business partner by name in glowing terms. If that's not a commendation that could be misconstrued, I don't know what is. As the PP wrote, the appearance of impropriety is sufficient to be a violation of the ethics code.  Like Caesar's wife, she must be above suspicion.

Zille should not have had in any, even the most tangential, dealings with this matter given that her son was a contractor and beneficiary. The PP is correct that appearance of impropriety matters, and Maree was not given the contract as if he had been a third party bidder.

I’ve long said Zille's problem is hubris, personally involving herself in matters she has no expertise in and, as in an instance she wrote about, Eskom's electricity provision to a West Coast town.  If for nothing else, she's been deservedly burnt for working above her competence and scope of office, the latter the PP also mentions, and no amount of massaging will alter the facts.

Mkhwebane has been called “racist”, “cretin”, “nitwit” and other invective, these from Zille’s and DA supporters – white, middle class and those who think their educated and cultured – who've had the audacity to criticise Zille and contradict their world view.  In their language and attitudes they’ve revealed their intransigence, conservatism and common manners and ways.  As James Lee Burke writes, they’ve being put on Earth by God to prove whites are not superior.

These supporters are not interested in hearing how Zille operates, and readily dismiss allegations and complaints about her.  

In 2017 she prejudged and dismissed complaints against senior WC officials, including a head of department, I took to her without investigating confirmed allegations or even reading the complaints (presumably she read only the short, summarised email of it but one can't be sure), and pre-emptively defended and exonerated them. Just like that. As the most senior officer, she was required to investigate in term of national and Western Cape legislation, the latter her own administration initiated. That she declined to, as her minions did before her, was so the stink of illegality did not attach itself to her administration – a sordid cover up in other words.  At least here the PP performed due diligence and conducted a thorough and complete investigation.

The truth is her loyal army of supporters are fatuous, ignorant, desperate and dishonestly displaying the same conduct in her defence they accuse the ANC of.  Since Zille has decided to waste more taxpayer money taking this on review – a serial pathology of hers –like Jacob Zuma did, and also not paying for it herself.

These supporters ignorantly and doggedly continue to refer to the PP’s findings as “allegations” and “perception” despite the Chief Justice in the Constitutional Court’s Nkandla judgement stating the PP makes findings, not opinions, and is only superseded by a court. In other words, these findings have almost the same authority as a court's which is arrived at after reviewing the evidence.

So, while it's not the PP's perception, at best for Zille, which a court will consider on review, there's a differing interpretation – PP's and Zille's, the latter which is irrelevant until it’s presented in her High Court brief – of whether or not there was a conflict of interest and, therefore, the code was violated.  These people must stop pretending they know what the evidence indicates and law is and let the court do its work.

Zille abused her Daily Maverick column to attack the public protector's findings, in which she personally attacks Mkhwebane ("insult to the office") rather than graciously say she's taking it on review as she did in her official statement. Cameron Dugmore, member of the provincial legislature who laid the complaint, responds here.