No action yet against Nzimande after exposé

PROMISES to root out corruption within the government will continue to ring hollow if President Cyril Ramaphosa refuses to take action on blatant criminal activity from the top down.

These were the sentiments expressed by organisations left dismayed that no action was taken and no mention of the fate of Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande following the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) last week and Ramaphosa’s January 8 statement.

Various organisations have called for the removal of Nzimande from the helm of higher education after damning evidence that Nzimande, alongside his party, the SACP, and National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson Ernest Khosa, had allegedly received kickbacks for tenders from NSFAS service providers.

Ramaphosa distanced the party from those who were corrupt or committed serious crimes.

“Corruption in government, business and society is criminal activity. It detracts from the government’s ability to improve the conditions of those living in poverty and to transform society.”

The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers’ (Nupsaw) spokesperson, Neo Lebethe, said Ramaphosa and Parliament’s insistence to ignore the Nzimande matter showed they were not taking corruption seriously.

“The minister was supposed to have been instructed to step down pending the finalisation of all investigations and he has been cleared of any wrongdoing. What’s worse, the minister hasn’t even tried to produce a single piece of evidence to refute the allegations against him. Ramaphosa needs to start by getting rid of the rot and Blade is part of that rot.”

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) had released damning voice recordings allegedly implicating Nzimande and Khosa in graft and called on them to resign.

Khosa last week announced he was taking a leave of absence following the allegations. Nzimande appointied Professor Lourens van Staden as the acting chairperson of NSFAS.