{"id":24969,"date":"2012-10-24T15:20:42","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T13:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=24969"},"modified":"2012-10-24T15:36:38","modified_gmt":"2012-10-24T13:36:38","slug":"da-questions-mtn-bribe-accused-reinstatement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/mobile\/24969\/da-questions-mtn-bribe-accused-reinstatement\/","title":{"rendered":"DA questions MTN bribe accused reinstatement"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Maynier<\/a>, shadow minister of defence and military veterans, has called on the minister of international relations and cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane<\/a>, to urgently explain why Ambassador Yusuf Saloojee<\/a> is back at his post in Oman.<\/p>\n

In July, South Africa suspended Saloojee, its former ambassador to Tehran, pending an investigation into his ties to MTN.<\/p>\n

Saloojee, who was ambassador to Oman at the time of the suspension, was named in an ongoing Turkcell suit against MTN for allegedly taking a $200,000 bribe from the SA mobile operator to help it win an operating license in Iran.<\/p>\n

The MTN Group allegedly made a payment to property attorneys, Gildenhuys Lessing Malatji Inc.<\/a> on 26 April 2007 towards the purchase of a home for the ambassador in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbassador Saloojee was suspended, pending the outcome of an investigation being conducted by Nyameko Goso<\/a>, a chief director in the internal audit division of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation,\u201d Maynier said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

He said that a reply to a parliamentary question, received on 17 October 2012, confirmed that the investigation into Ambassador Yusuf Saloojee was “still in progress”.<\/p>\n

The department of internal relations and cooperation said in a statement of its own that Saloojee was at his posting in Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman, temporarily pending the finalisation of an on-going internal investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department recalled Ambassador Saloojee and put him on a three-month suspension, beginning 01 July 2012, to allow for an internal investigation into allegations made against him by a former employee of a South African mobile phone company operating in the Islamic Republic of Iran,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

It stressed that it \u201cviews the allegations in a serious light, hence the investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbassador Saloojee\u2019s return to Muscat is temporary, pending the finalisation and outcomes of the investigation,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

According to Maynier, Ambassador Saloojee should not be allowed\u00a0 to take up his post as South Africa’s ambassador to Oman if he is being investigated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get to the bottom of why it is that the Ambassador was allowed to return to his post in Oman,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The DA<\/a> shadow minister said he would be submitting parliamentary questions to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to determine:<\/p>\n