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The South African Security Workers union (SASWU) has noted with shock reports in the Business Day implicating the minister of state security Mr Bongani Bongo in allegations of attempted bribery of the evidence leader in the parliamentary inquiry on state capture, advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, the allegations are that minister Bongo offered advocate Vanara a black cheque to collapse the inquiry for which advocate Vanara is appointed to lead to uncover allegations of state capture.

Minister Bongo as a member of the national executive is bound by the oath of office he’s sworn into in terms of schedule 2 (3) of the constitution of the Republic to be “faithful to the Republic of South Africa and to obey, respect and uphold the constitution and all other law of the Republic; undertook to hold his office as minister with honour and dignity, to be true and faithful counsellor; not to divulge directly or indirectly any secret matter entrusted to him and to perform the functions of his office conscientiously and to the best of his ability”.

It is alleged that advocate Vanara made these allegations in a sworn statement, this is prima facie evidence of a case against the minister’s violation of his oath of office and therefore the minister can’t continue holding the office of minister of state security. It must be appreciated that the minister of state security is expected to espouse the highest standard of ethics and values for he holds an office that is akin to that of a guardian angel and such allegations must be viewed with utmost seriousness.

While we respect individuals' right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty, this can’t be the case given the seriousness of the allegations and the stature of the office the minister holds. The minister is further embroiled in allegations of fraud that are allegedly being investigated by the office of priority crimes also known as HAWKS under the South African police services emanating from the period he was with the department of human settlements in the Mpumalanga provincial government.

With these allegations, the minister is a security risk who can’t be trusted with classified information. We call on the president of the Republic, his excellence JG Zuma to act swiftly and remove the minister pending finalisation of the investigation or on any other terms he may deem appropriate. We implore the Speaker of the National Assembly, honourable Baleka Mbete to move swiftly to conclude this investigation and release the finding to the public. We also call on the joint standing committee on intelligence to probe these matter and take appropriate action in terms of applicable prescripts.

Issued by South African Security Workers union