Icasa councillor must be pulled: DA
The DA has called for Icasa councillor Rubben Mohlaloga to be withdrawn from the position due to charges of fraud.
According to an ITWeb report, Mohlaloga has been charged with defrauding the Land Bank of R6 million and is currently out on R20,000 bail.
Despite this, Mohlaloga is due to start his employment as an Icasa councillor in January.
Mohlaloga joins two other members who were selected to fill three vacancies that arose on the Icasa council this year.
They were chosen by minister Dina Pule from a shortlist of five and approved by the National Assembly in November.
“Icasa councillors, because of the value placed on their independence and integrity, must be above reproach,” said DA shadow minister of communications, Marian Shinn.
“It is untenable that a candidate councillor who has not yet taken up tenure should start his highly paid career with a criminal charge hanging over his head,” she said.
Marian Shinn
Shinn pointed out that, at the time of his interview by the Portfolio Committee on Communications in September, Mohlaloga had apparently not been criminally charged.
This means that there was probably no criminal record or conflict of interest issue that would have nullified his appointment, at the time.
However, Shinn stressed that “his subsequent criminal charge should have been made known to Minister Pule before she made her final choice on November 21.”
“If Mr Mohlaloga failed to inform his employers, the Department of Communications, of the criminal charges against him, this casts doubt on his integrity and suitability for the post,” she said.
When the portfolio committee recommended to the National Assembly a shortlist of five names for the Icasa positions to be submitted to the Minister of Communications, the DA declared its opposition to Mohlaloga’s inclusion.
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