Dina Pule fined and suspended
Axed communications minister guilty of breaching the MP's Code of Conduct.
JOHANNESBURG - Former Communications Minister Dina Pule has been fined a full month's salary and suspended for 15 days after being found guilty of breaching the code of conduct for Members of Parliament (MPs).
Further, employees who helped cover for her will face questions from the police.
The allegations against Pule centred on her failure to disclose her relationship with Phosane Mngqibisa.
The investigating panel found he was indeed her partner and benefitted substantially through his association with her.
Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics found that Pule wilfully misled the panel and that officials may have committed perjury in defending her.
Pule attracted the attention of the ethics watchdog after the Sunday Times newspaper published reports about her romantic partner allegedly benefiting from the ICT Indaba her department hosted last year.
The lengthy probe began in March this year and the panel reportedly had to process more than 2,000 pages of evidence.
Pule was fired by President Jacob Zuma last month during his fourth Cabinet reshuffle since 2009.
Zuma replaced her with former Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister Yunis Carrim.
