Bongani Bongo in alleged bribery bid to capture Eskom inquiry

Cape Town - State Security Minister Bongani Bongo is accused of offering a bribe to advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, who is the evidence leader of Parliament’s inquiry into state capture at Eskom.

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete is reported to have referred the matter to Parliament’s joint ethics committee.

Bongo, who refused to comment on the matter, allegedly offered Vanara a blank cheque, according to a sworn statement, reported BusinessLive on Sunday.

The EFF and the DA responded saying that it will take up the issue with the Public Protector.

"We shall be writing to the Public Protector to report Bongo in terms of the Executive Ethics Act. We shall do this to yet again test Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebani's judicial integrity."

Spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the EFF believes that Bongo has been trying to undermine the state capture inquiry for some time.

"We know for sure that he is amongst those who in the ANC parliament caucus argued for its termination and lost."  

The party called on for Parliament to act speedily to deal with the matter.

• READ: Parliament rallies around Eskom inquiry evidence leader Vanara

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said the party also plans on laying corruption charges against the newly appointed minister.

"The latest allegations of corruption against Bongo suggest that he has tried to actively collapse the state capture inquiry by offering Advocate Vanara a bribe to resign as evidence leader in the probe into allegations of state capture at Eskom," he said.

"If proved to be true‚ these allegations serve as basis for criminal charges to be pursued and they further amount to a gross violation of the provisions of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act and the associated Executive Ethics Code which‚ amongst others‚ prohibits ministers from using their position to enrich themselves or improperly benefit any other person and requires that ministers fulfil all obligations imposed upon them by the constitution and law‚" Steenhuisen said.
 
Fin24 sister publication City Press reported earlier this month that Bongo is implicated in a Hawks investigation. This related to alleged corrupt land transactions during his time as legal adviser in the Mpumalanga provincial government. It was discovered that he apparently scored in a deal which saw R300 000 deposited for a BMW.