An independent probe has cleared Deputy President Paul Mashatile of any involvement in the granting of loans to a company belonging to his son Thabiso Mashatile and son-in-law Nceba Nonkwelo.
Gauteng Housing MEC Lebogang Maile ordered a probe into loans of an estimated value of R30 Million extended to Nonkwelo Investment by the Gauteng Partnership Fund which are yet to be settled.
Mashatile held various leadership positions in Gauteng, both in the ruling ANC as well as the government and online publication News24 ran a series of articles claiming he had used his influence to secure the loans for Nonkwelo.
Mashatile is on record denying any involvement and on Monday the province’s Human Settlement MEC Lebogang Maile formally cleared the Deputy President when he released a report of an investigation by law firm Gildenhuys Malatji Incorporated which could not link him to any of the transactions.
“It’s not us, it’s the reputable law firm GMI which probed and could not find anything linking the deputy president to the whole thing so no he’s not mentioned at all in the report because he was never part of this thing”, said Maile during a media briefing in Johannesburg.
Maile says the probe found there were shortcomings in how the loans were granted and recommended corrective measures which he says have since been undertaken.
“There were shortcomings on the Project Appraisal. More comprehensive due diligence and procedural steps ought to have occurred prior to the granting of the loan facility to Nonkwelo Investments” reads the report in reference to how the decision to grant the loans was arrived at.”
The investigation also found that the company failed to pay back the loan and Maile said a settlement arrangement has since been entered into to recover outstanding funds.