As South Africans embark on a bruising inquiry into
allegations of whether the state was captured by a corrupt clique that milked
government coffers to the detriment of ordinary citizens, one would expect it
to be a purely South African affair.
However, recently a Zimbabwean procurement and supply chain
professional, Dr Masimba Phillip Dahwa – who was reportedly unfairly jettisoned
from his job as South African Airways’ (SAA) chief procurement officer (CPO)
after allegedly refusing to engage in corrupt activities – appeared before the
judicial commission that is seized with the probe.
The commission – also known as the Zondo Commission, since
it is headed by SA Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo – is a public inquiry
launched by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration to
“investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, fraud and other
allegations in the public sector, including organs of state” in South Africa.
It has since gone through tonnes of evidence allegedly
linking the Gupta brothers – Ajay, Atul and Rajesh – to state capture,
including contracts that the companies associated with the brothers received
from state-owned companies.
SA public entities such as Transnet, Eskom and SABC have
been unable to escape scrutiny.
So, too, have prominent names such as ex-Finance Minister
Nhlanhla Nene, his successor, Des van Rooyen – who served for three days only –
and the former Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba.
Former SAA chair Duduzile Cynthia Myeni – popularly known as
Dudu – also came under the spotlight.
But among the many testimonies presented at the Zondo
Commission was the interesting evidence by Zimbabwean Dr Dahwa, who served as
the CPO during Dudu Myeni’s time as SAA chair.
It is claimed that rot, corruption and malfeasance reached
unprecedented levels during the time.
It seems several awards, which proved how he had
successfully improved the airline’s procurement governance, however, could not
protect him against being summarily suspended a day after refusing to comply
with orders from South Africa’s would-be Finance Minister Des van Rooyen to
award two critical contracts to his preferred companies without following due
process.
This was reportedly in violation of South Africa’s Public Procurement
Act. It is speculated that Des van Royeen probably knew that he
would be appointed Finance Minister within a couple of days.
However, after his appointment as Treasury chief, van
Rooyen was subsequently out of a job three days later after the negative
sentiment the appointment had elicited threatened to bring the SA economy to
its knees.
The SA rand had dropped to its lowest ever. In his testimony before the Zondo Commission, Dr Dahwa
alleged that SAA board of directors chaired by Myeni tried to force him to
facilitate unethical, corrupt and illegal practices under the guise of
transforming the airline.
He chronicled the pressure, blackmail, intimidation,
threats and abuse he reportedly suffered for refusing to award lucrative
contracts to companies linked to individual board members without following due
process.
Dr Dahwa told the commission that he was unfairly dismissed
for standing up for his profession’s integrity. He claims to have fixed major flaws in how SAA was run.
“You could see. . .that contracts would go for months, you
know, between 18 to 24 months, before a contract can be signed, but in the
meantime the service is being provided and this to me was a major, major risk
that needed urgent addressing,” he said in his testimony as he highlighted one
such weakness.
He also says he recommended the overhaul of the flag
carrier’s procurement governance, which involved replacing a two-stage
committee system that was in place with a three-stage tender committee system
for competitive bids.
Dr Dahwa told the commission that with the bad practices at
the airline, “transformation became core and as such, I was tasked during the
90-day turnaround strategy during the time of Mr Nico Bezuidenhout (as SAA
CEO). . .to try and drive forward the transformation agenda and as such, I
happily took the task, chair (Justice Zondo), and we went on some information
sharing roadshows,” he said.
Dr Dahwa told of a day he was “held to ransom” by two SAA
board members – Dudu Myeni and Yakhe Kwinana – in a meeting that ran from 10am
until dusk ostensibly to force him to approve tenders that did not come through
proper procedures.
“So I remained with the two board members and they insisted
that I do sign – I refused. Then they said, okay, maybe what we need to do is
we give you an opportunity to do an undertaking that you would do this by
Wednesday.
“My honest view was they were trying to play with my mind.
. .to me it was more like a psychology game where they were hoping that one way
or another I will end up just doing it, but from where I was sitting, chair, if
I had a way of implementing those resolutions without breaking the procurement
laws. . .And after all I was not permanent, so I needed to prove my worth but
what I would not do, chair, was to break the law,” Dr Dahwa told the
commission.
The procurement professional claims that when the duo
failed to convince him, they reportedly warned him to the fact that the EFF
political party (which is led by Julius Malema) would come to march against
foreigners at SAA.
Dr Dahwa added: “I think after everyone else had gone now
there is the three of us on (the) 6th Floor, then Ms Myeni said to me that ‘by
the way, EFF will be coming here on Monday, the following Monday, and they want
to get rid of – because they are concerned about the transformation issues at
SAA – and they would want to get rid of people like you’.”
Dr Dahwa is a former president of the Chartered Institute
of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Zimbabwe. Sunday Mail
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