Former minister Dina Pule who was found guilty last week of lying to parliament after dishing out foreign trips and business deals to her boyfriend has been linked to an alleged assassination plot involving top officials probing her for misconduct.
In May, the Democratic Alliance submitted an affidavit to the Cape Town central police station asking it to probe possible criminal activities by Pule, Phosane Mngqibisa, who was said to be her boyfriend, suspended SABC Chief Financial Officer Gugu Duda and current CEO Lulama Mokhobo.
The Sunday Times had reported allegations that Mngqibisa orchestrated the appointment of friends and family to key organisations in Pule's portfolio.
Nomakhaya Malebane, a former confidante and business partner of Duda, alleged to the Sunday Times that she was given the position at the SABC as a result of her friendship with Mngqibisa.
Malebane reportedly alleged that Pule organised that Duda be selected by the board, even though her CV was received late.
The Sunday Times also reported that Mngqibisa allegedly organised the appointment of his relative Lulama Makhoba to the post of SABC CEO.
According to the Sunday Times, police are investigating claims by a man who said he was hired by Pule’s boyfriend, Phosane Mngqibisa, to arrange the murder of parliamentary ethics committee chairperson Professor Ben Turok and the registrar of members’ interests, Fazela Mohamed. The two were part of the team investigating Pule.
Police confirmed they have interviewed several people with first-hand information about the threat. The man apparently contacted the Sunday Times by email on 17 July claiming to have “information that can prove that Phosane Mngqibisa (and by extension Dina Pule) had called a hit on Professor Ben Turok so that he couldn’t attend the final sit-down of the ethics committee and therefore give the accused more time to come up with a solution for their issues with the ethics committee and Public Protector”.
“The hit to kill Ben Turok was issued to me as a specialist consultant. I was to recruit a hit man for the job. All plans were disturbed by the cabinet reshuffle that was made by the president last Tuesday. I have SMSes, emails and recordings to prove my claims.”
The man repeated these claims in more detail during a meeting with the Sunday Times on 22 July. According to the man, Mngqibisa initially offered him R400 000 to falsify documents that would have proved he paid for all his trips with the minister. It was when he met Mngqibisa for the money that he was allegedly asked to carry out the hit.
The threats on Turok and Mohamed were taken so seriously that police assigned each person two bodyguards. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Dina-Pule-linked-to-assassination-plot-20130811#.Ugc2fsYWh-c.facebook
