Communications Minister in tender scandal

Business Day is reporting that Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda is expected to suspend the Director-General of Communications, Mamodupi Mohlala, after repeated disagreements about tenders she refused to sign.

Mohlala reportedly refused to approve tenders because they were awarded to companies linked to people close to Nyanda and a private company, General Nyanda Security (GNS).

It is said that Nyanda has instructed Mohlala to suspend all the department’s tenders until he approves them.

Another of Business Day’s sources reportedly said that the tension between Nyanda and Mohlala was related to the delays in South Africa’s migration to digital broadcasting.

Nyanda is said to be unhappy with Mohlala as she has, in his view, given the impression that the government had decided to adopt the Japanese ISDB-T standard after it had started with the European DVB-T standard.

The department recently released South Africa’s National Broadband Policy and according to Business Day is expected to force telecoms operators to sell shares to black investors.

*UPDATE: Eyewitness News reports that the Communications Ministry is denying the claims against Nyanda.

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