Johannesburg - Parliament must probe the University of
Limpopo's tender process after reports that two men associated with the Friends
of the Youth League (FYL) benefited from lucrative contracts, the DA said on
Sunday.
Democratic Alliance higher education spokesperson Annelie
Lotriet said in a statement she would write to Motswane Ishmael Malale,
chairperson of the portfolio committee to ask for an investigation.
The university council, including the vice-chancellor
Nehemiah Mokgalong and marketing director Kgalema Mohuba, needed to explain how
the tenders were awarded.
On Friday, the Mail & Guardian reported that the
university awarded tenders to two allies of expelled ANCYL president Julius
Malema last year.
Collins Foromo, who was previously Malema's driver, was
awarded a R27.8m tender for the conversion of a gymnasium into a laboratory.
A company owned by FYL founder Mandla Seopela was awarded a
contract for a three-year lease for dining facilities. The value of the tender
could not be confirmed.
Questions have been raised about who funds the FYL, an
organisation which was formed after Malema was expelled.
Lotriet said an investigation was necessary, particularly in
light of the fact that the university might be indirectly supporting Malema's
"social destabilisation campaign".
"... (Given) questions raised about the sources of
funding for (Malema's) current national campaign to spread labour protests
around South African mines, the sources of funding for the FYL warrants careful
scrutiny.
"Malema's war-chest cannot be filled at the expense of
the South African public," she said.
Trade union Solidarity filed criminal charges of incitement to violence and intimidation against Malema earlier this month, following comments he made to striking mines urging them to make the mines "ungovernable".