MBOMBELA – The Office of the Premier (OTP) is denying making any deal with the Gupta family.
A whistle-blower in government this week alleged the opposite: that the province has agreed to a R7-million deal with the Gupta-owned newspaper, The New Age (TNA).
The OTP said it was allowing the newspaper to make presentations and proposals “just like any other media house”, and this should not be viewed as an indication that it was committing to doing business with the newspaper, said spokesman, Mr Zibonele Mncwango.
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According to a letter sent to the DA by a frustrated government employee, TNA’s proposal to the OTP was for a partnership to publish a daily newspaper which will include the provincial government’s events and projects on its first three pages.
The employee wanted the DA to help stop the deal because government was failing to fix lifts in its offices.
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He also said employees were forced to share overcrowded offices and more than 200 officials had to share less than four printers for the printing and copying of documents.
The proposal was followed by a meeting between a delegation from TNA and the provincial government communicator’s forum (PGCF).
The company made a presentation to the PGCF on September 28 at the Ehlanzeni District Municipality’s offices.
Heads of communication from various government departments also attended.
During the meeting, the newspaper proposed that it would print 8 000 copies of the newspapers to be distributed for free in the province.
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It would also train journalism students from Mpumalanga. It had also promised to build a TV bureau. However, it refused to disclose how much government was expected to pay.
The heads were not impressed with the use of the provincial government’s coat of arms by the company in their presentation. They wanted to know who authorised the company to use government logos in their documents.
They questioned the relationship between TNA and the Mpumalanga Government. They also probed why government should go into a partnership with the newspaper while it announced that it would sell all its shares.
Photo: Citizen
Despite an agreement that government was not ready for the partnership, the whistle-blower said a memorandum was being prepared for submission to the director general’s office by the publications manager.
The letter also mentioned that the OTP’s communication division had recommended that the deal proceed.
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DA provincial leader, Mr James Masango, said the allegations cement an assertion that the premier, Mr David Mabuza, Mr Tony Gupta, and Mr Duduzane Zuma flew back on the Gupta jet from Russia on November 14, 2015 where Mabuza was treated for poisoning.
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Masango said the deal was payback for the favour. Mncwango did not confirm or deny this.
“It is clear that the DA is on a smear campaign, they are trying to opportunistically link the honourable premier with the Guptas. The premier is his own person and has no business dealings whatsoever with the Guptas,” said Mncwango.
According to Mncwango, the director-general has directed the communications directorate to prepare an open tender process for all interested media houses.
“The directorate has been instructed to make necessary provisions in the 2017/18 budget for the tender process,” he said.
The OTP didn’t respond to questions why the TNA delegation used the provincial government’s coat of arms.
