Worst scandals over the past 20 years

Arms Deal Scandal: (1999)

 

South Africa became a disgraced nation just five years into democracy, when allegations around the defence procurement package surfaced in 1999. The president ordered an inquiry into the matter, following claims of corruption. The Seriti Commission is underway. 

 

South Africa’s cricket match fixing scandal: (surfaced in 2000)

 

Police in India revealed match-fixing allegations involving Hansie Cronje, a representative of an Indian betting syndicate, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom. The King Commission banned Cronje from playing or coaching cricket for life after he was found guilty of accepting monetary rewards from bookmakers for forecasting matches.

Cricket Match Fixing interviews with Bob Woolmer and Henry Williams:

22 newborn babies died in a Klebsiella outbreak at Durban's Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital. An investigation revealed that the outbreak was linked to a failure of infection control measures. Another report cited insufficient hand-washing by Neonatal Intensive Care Unit staff. The contamination was caused by the multiple use of intravenous bottles to administer Vamin-Glucose.

 

Rape case: (December 2005 – May 2006) 

 

In 2005, Jacob Zuma was charged with raping a 31-year old woman at his home in Forest Town, Gauteng. The alleged victim was from a prominent ANC family, the daughter of a deceased struggle comrade of Zuma, and also an AIDS activist who was known to be HIV positive. Zuma denied the charges and claimed that the sex was consensual.

 

In 2006, the court found Zuma not guilty of rape, agreeing with Zuma that the sexual act in question was consensual. The judge lambasted the accuser for lying to the court, but also censured Zuma for his recklessness.

 

Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial: (October 2004 – November 2006 )

 

The trial proved that the relationship between Durban-based businessman Schabir Shaik and Jacob Zuma was fraudulent and corrupt. Schaik was given 15 years. The judge found that Zuma had a “generally corrupt” relationship with Shaik. In 2009, Shaik was released on medical parole, after serving two years and four months of his term.

Narend Singh sex tape: (emerged 2006)

 

Former, KZN MEC for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Narend Singh, resigned after he starred in a sex video also involving Durban businesswoman, Rosanne Narandas. The steamy footage, captured on a hidden camera, was burned onto DVDs and distributed to members of the public. Both had been at a Durban hotel. 

 

Joost van der Westhuizen sex tape: (emerged February 2009)

 

Rapport newspaper and Heat magazine reported that a video emerged showing the former rugby star engaging in sex play with a mystery blonde and snorting a white substance. Van der Westhuizen initially denied being in the video.

 

Then claims of infidelity began to surface, leading to him confessing to being in the controversial sex video. He also apologised for lying. The woman in the video, a former stripper came forward and said they’d done drugs together. She also passed a polygraph test. 

 

Idols Voting Scandal: (2009)

 

A massive scandal rocked the Idols reality singing contest in 2009, that led to two winners being announced. Jason Hartman from KZN was declared the winner alongside Sasha Lee Davids, after it emerged that there’d been problems with the voting process for the final round of the show. It was revealed days after the grand finale in which Sasha Lee won, that Jason was in fact the real winner. She 1.1 million votes while he garnered 1.3 million. There was a public uproar after producers revealed there’d been an undercount of valid SMS votes. Both contestants shared the prizes in the end.

 

Press conference to announce Sasha-Lee and Jason Hartman will share Idols winner title:

South Africa’s Donkey Meat Scandal: (2012- 2013)

 

The shocking results of a study into the meat we eat were brought to the public’s attention by our very own Consumerwatch journalist, Wendy Knowler. Here’s an excerpt from Knowler’s article: “The story first appeared in this column in early December last year, when the results of the Stellenbosch University food scientists’ DNA-testing of samples of processed meat revealed that 68 percent contained meat species not declared on the label.

 

Chicken and pork were the most undeclared meat species, the latter being the most alarming, given the cultural and religious significance. But it was the less conventional butchery meat which had the biggest shock factor – a single sample of processed meat was found to contain donkey, four samples tested positive for goat, and another four for water buffalo.” 

 

The Dina Pule Christian Louboutin scandal: (2012)

 

Former communications minister, Dina Pule eventually admitted last year to unethical behaviour and lying to parliament. Newspapers first reported that sponsors MTN, Vodacom and Telkom that contributed R25.7-million towards the ICT Indaba in Cape Town in 2011 were livid. They wanted to know why a huge portion of the money spent couldn’t be accounted for. It emerged that Pule’s boyfriend, whose company was hired to help stage the Indaba, used some of the cash to fly to Barcelona with Pule to according to him, market the Indaba. During their stay there, Pule’s boyfriend bought her a pair of expensive Christian Louboutin shoes, which she reportedly wore to the Indaba. The Public Protector last year advised her to apologise to Parliament, the communications department and the Sunday Times newspaper for persistently lying and her unethical conduct.

 

NkandlaGate: (2013- 2014)

 

The so called Nkandla scandal focuses on expensive upgrades being done to President Jacob Zuma’s private home in northern KZN, which began in 2009. Tensions over the more than R200m issue reached a boiling point in March, when the Public Protector released her much-anticipated report into the controversy. She found that Zuma unduly benefited from the non-security upgrades. These include the swimming pool, a kraal and an amphitheatre. She recommended that the president repay the state a percentage of the costs.

 

 

 

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