President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Maropene Ramokgopa, the current Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, to act as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture.
This comes after the forced resignation of Zizi Kodwa, who has been charged with corruption stemming from an alleged R1.7 million bribe.
Kodwa, whose alleged crimes date back to 2015 when he was deputy minister of state security, did not resign from his position even after being fingered in the state capture report.
The disgraced minister only resigned this week after his first appearance at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
The Zondo Commission on State Capture found that Kodwa benefitted from a number of financial transfers from former EOH Holdings director Jehan Mackay in 2014 and 2015.
Mackay, who was already paying for Kodwa’s luxury lifestyle, allegedly paid R1.7-million to Kodwa, but it is not clear what services Kodwa provided to the company.
“The commission accordingly recommends that the president consider the position of Mr Kodwa as deputy minister of state security, having regard to the fact that Mr Kodwa appears to find himself in a position where he is beholden to Mr Jehan Mackay,” Justice Raymond Zondo said in the state capture report.
“Mr Kodwa is beholden to Mr Jehan Mackay, to whom he owes more than R1.7m. On his own version. This is a debt which he cannot immediately repay.”
The presidency said in a statement: “President Ramaphosa has appointed Minister Maropene Ramokgopa to act as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture until a permanent appointment is made under the new seventh administration.”
Kodwa and Mackay are out on bail of R30,000 each.
Pictured above: Maropene Ramokgopa
Image source: X.
