Barbara Hogan
Photo by: Duane Daws
Former Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan on Thursday said President Jacob Zuma meddled in her portfolio and pressed her to appoint and retain people in key positions at state-owned enterprises, including a compromised individual.
Asked by eNCA whether Zuma interfered while she held the post, Hogan firmly replied: “Yes, he did.”
Hogan said this extended to stopping a disciplinary process against somebody and keeping him in his post. “At one point he (Zuma) gave an absolute order for disciplinary process to be stopped.” Pressed for names, Hogan said it should be clear who she was referring to and she did not want to engage in mudslinging.
Hogan held the public enterprises portfolio from 2009 to November 2010. In that time, Siyabonga Gama, the current acting chief of Transnet, was dismissed for misconduct, but successfully fought back. He was reappointed as head of Transnet Freight Rail early in 2011 and was reported to have earned R12.5-million in salary and bonuses that year.
Hogan said the shock confirmation by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas on Wednesday that the influential Gupta family offered him the post of finance minister shortly before then Minister Nhlanhla Nene was sacked by Zuma, showed “the enormity of the rot” in the State.
After Nene was fired in December, Hogan called on the ANC to remove Zuma from office.