Malema interests not in breach

JOHANNESBURG – ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema did not breach any code of ethics by contesting for tenders in Limpopo, the Congress of SA Students (Cosas) in Gauteng said yesterday.

Provincial secretary Oagile Louw said Malema was not a government official, and therefore did not breach any law by applying for tenders.’There is no crisis [even] if comrade Malema benefited from tenders,’ said Louw.Cosas was reacting to reports of Malema’s plush lifestyle allegedly being bankrolled by government tenders.’Comrade Malema, like any other South African, has the right to contest for tenders. We pronounce without any fear of contradiction or intimidation that we remain behind comrade Julius,’ Louw said.He said if people wanted Malema probed, then they should start by re-opening the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process ‘because there are still unresolved cases there’.Louw said the lifestyle audit backed by the Congress of SA Trade Union should include the trade union’s own leaders and those of the SA Communist Party. He said the audit should start with parliamentarians, who must take a cut in their allowances.Over the weekend, newspapers reported that SGL Engineering, a company listed under the directorship of Malema, had received R140 million in tenders from the Limpopo government.The contracts included eight tenders worth R66.4 million from Mopani district municipality for construction of roads and the building of a fire station and sewer reticulation in the Modjadji area.Five contracts valued at R28 million from Tzaneen municipality for upgrading the CBD, a cemetery and multipurpose centre were also awarded to the company.Another was a R27.9 million street-paving contract from the Greater Letaba municipality.Opposition parties and human rights organisations called for the SA Revenue Service and Public Protector to investigate Malema. – Nampa-Sapa