Durban — The Daily News has noted the Special Investigating Unit (SIU)’s response about Dr Zweli Mkhize which was published online and in the paper’s front page on Wednesday.
In its statement issued on Wednesday morning the unit said it had noted the IOL publication on Tuesday titled SIU ‘clears’ Zweli Mkhize in Digital Vibes scandal.
It went further and said: “As the publication has the potential to mislead the public, the SIU is enjoined to set the record straight that it has not cleared anyone in the Digital Vibes matter. The matter is currently pending in the high court and the unit will respect the court process and not comment further”
The paper would like to set the record straight that it stands by its story. It has noted that the SIU has chosen to respond to the headline and not to the story which tells us that they may have not even bothered to read the article.
The gist of the story which the paper believed the SIU should respond to is whether it still stands by its report which implicated Mkhize in the Digital Vibes fraudulent tender given its own admission that it did not have a Cabinet meeting minutes it had relied on to find against Mkhize.
According to Mkhize the SIU’s adverse findings against him were based on the Cabinet decision which according to SIU had decided that the tender should have been awarded by the Government Communications and Information Systems (GCIS) not Health Department where Mkhize was a minister.
By this, the unit said Mkhize violated the Constitution by ignoring the Cabinet directive.
Mkhize is on record saying that soon after the report was released in June he immediately started making requests from the SIU to provide him with proof of the Cabinet decision but the unit had been ducking and diving until recently where it finally responded and said it did not have the document he was requesting.
The letter is included in this statement for the public to see for themselves.
It should also be noted that Mkhize said (on record) he had sent detailed submissions to the SIU before releasing its report but the unit went ahead and released the said report without having considered his presentation which disputed findings against him.
These presentations (which we have seen) are backed up by compelling documented evidence and facts which are now before the courts.
With this delay and the SIU’s refusal to take Mkhize’s presentation into consideration before releasing the report, he came to the conclusion that the unit had predetermined findings against him with the intention to tarnish his name and reputation.
According to Mkhize, the delay in court hearing his review application which he lodged last year challenging the report was also caused by the unit which had failed to file its responding papers on time but when it finally did it was incomplete with no pagination.
The public should also note that the SIU has also wrongfully implicated individuals such as KwaZulu-Natal government spokesperson Ndabe Sibiya.
The unit had wrongfully implicated him as the owner of Sotobe Media which benefited from Digital Vibes. The unit, faced with backlash and legal action had to withdraw and apologise after it realised that it erred.
We have said time and again that if the unit or any other parties feel aggrieved by our reporting on the Digital Vibes saga, they are more than welcome to contact our esteemed Ombudsman, Viasen Soobramoney [email protected]