A series of articles by the Sunday Times formed part of a smear and blackmail campaign, communications minister Dina Pule claimed on Monday. “The campaign was a highly sophisticated plot to blackmail me,” she told reporters in Johannesburg. “The Sunday Times thought it could coerce me into a corner.”
Pule went into the details of several stories, saying they sought to project her as a corrupt minister, without providing evidence. She said the blackmail related to tender processes and “their” intentions were for “decisions (to be made) in their favour”.
Pule said the matter had been taken up with the press ombudsman. She said one journalist’s relative was so desperate to get a meeting with her he even proposed a love affair.
But the opposition Democratic Alliance has slammed Pule’s latest claims, with the party’s spokesman on communications, Marian Shinn, saying the minister “must desist from trying to create the impression that she is a victim of blackmailers who are concocting allegations of misconduct and corruption against her and her romantic partner Phosane Mngqibisa”.
Pule’s press conference comes a week before a parliamentary committee is due to begin hearings into allegations of cronyism and nepotism involving last year’s ICT Indaba, where Phosane, who is said to be a romantic partner of hers, alleged benefited to the tune of millions of rand.
“She has indicated she would report the Sunday Times to the press ombudsman. However, Mngqibisa had already reported the Sunday Times to the ombudsman last year… The ombudsman ruled on 10 December 2012 that the Sunday Times was justified in its reporting of Pule and Mngqibisa’s relationship and dismissed his complaint,” Shinn says.
“I suspect the minister is trying to whip up public sympathy ahead of next week’s hearing, which will thoroughly examine her relationship with Mngqibisa and his involvement in last year’s ICT Indaba, which was hosted by the department of communications.”
Shinn says Pule must wait for the outcome of parliament’s hearings and the imminent release of the public protector’s report on the issue. “Pule’s pathetic shots across their bows to appeal for public sympathy are unlikely to sway their considered findings. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media, with Sapa
