<\/p>\n
Durban \u2014 Former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has called on the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to make amendments to the Digital Vibes report, following its admission that it did not have the Cabinet documents it had relied on to make the adverse findings against him.<\/p>\n
The SIU finally responded in writing to Mkhize\u2019s legal team\u2019s numerous letters requesting the document or Cabinet meeting in which it had based its findings against him. The unit said it did not have the document.<\/p>\n
Mkhize said that the SIU\u2019s report, released in June last year, stated that he had violated the Constitution by allowing the Department of Health to appoint Digital Vibes even though the Cabinet had directed that the Government Communication and Information System be appointed.<\/p>\n
He said that despite his detailed submission to the SIU, disputing the report and requesting it to consider his representation before releasing the report to the public, it went ahead and published it without taking his submission into consideration.<\/p>\n
Mkhize has since been requesting that the SIU provide him with the Cabinet meeting document as proof. He said the unit had been ducking and diving his request.<\/p>\n
In the unit’s response, which came to Mkhize’s legal team via State attorneys and which the Daily News has seen, it said: \u201cWe reiterate that the documents referred to in paragraph 7 of your letter either does not exist or are not in the SIU\u2019s possession.\u201d<\/p>\n
That prompted Mkhize to call for the report to be amended so that his name could be cleared. He said the SIU had no evidence against him. <\/p>\n
He said he had always suspected that the SIU had predetermined findings against him, with the intention to tarnish his name.<\/p>\n
The SIU\u2019s response could boost his campaign to become the ANC\u2019s president at the upcoming elective conference. The findings against him had forced him to resign as minister.<\/p>\n
The report found that the contract was irregularly awarded to the company owned by his close associates. It also found that Mkhize\u2019s son, Dedani, benefited as there were payments made to him by the company or its directors.<\/p>\n
Mkhize said his son had explained that the money he had received had nothing to do with the Digital Vibes tender.<\/p>\n
The former minister was also cleared by the Parliament’s ethics committee which found that his son’s benefits should not be construed as the minister’s benefits from the tender since he was not a minor.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Mkhize said his son has paid back the money to the SIU, pending the court’s determination whether it had anything to do with the contract.<\/p>\n
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the unit had responded to Mkhize\u2019s letters and would not comment further as the matter was in court.<\/p>\n
Daily News<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Durban \u2014 Former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has called on the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to make amendments to the Digital Vibes report, following its admission that it did not have the Cabinet documents it had relied on to make the adverse findings against him. The SIU finally responded in writing to Mkhize\u2019s legal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3792,4192,283,648,7359,8047,8386],"class_list":["post-148692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-politics","tag-clears","tag-digital","tag-mkhize","tag-scandal","tag-siu","tag-vibes","tag-zweli"],"yoast_head":"\n