Elzabe Rockman

Elizabeth Cornelia "Elzabe" Rockman (born 20 April 1967) is a South African African National Congress politician who served as the Member of the Executive Council for Finance during the premierships of Ace Magashule and Sisi Ntombela. She was first appointed to the post in March 2013 and left office in May 2019. She was also a Member of the Free State Provincial Legislature during that time. From 2010 to 2013, she was the Director-General of the Free State Provincial Government. In October 2019, she testified at the Zondo Commission.

Elzabe Rockman
Rockman in 2019
Free State MEC for Finance
In office
12 March 2013 – 7 May 2019
PremierSisi Ntombela
Ace Magashule
Preceded bySeiso Mohai
Succeeded byGadija Brown
Personal details
Born (1967-04-20) 20 April 1967
Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Children1
Residence(s)Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of the Free State
ProfessionPolitician
Known forServing as the MEC for Finance during the premiership of Ace Magashule.

Early life

Rockman was born on 20 April 1967 in Kimberley in the former Cape Province. She studied at the University of the Free State and obtained a BEd degree in Languages and a BA Honours in English.[1]

Career

Rockman became the secretary of the Free State Provincial Legislature in 1994 and served in the post until 2009. She joined the provincial government after the 2009 general election. She was soon appointed Director-General of the Free State Provincial Government in September 2010. On 12 March 2013, premier Ace Magashule appointed her as the Member of the Executive Council for Finance, succeeding Seiso Mohai, who was redeployed to Parliament.[2] After the 2014 general election, she remained in the post.[3] In 2017, she became a certified fraud examiner.[4] Magashule resigned as premier in 2018 and newly elected premier Sisi Ntombela retained Rockman in her position.[5]

Rockman left the provincial government after the 2019 general election. Gadija Brown succeeded her as Finance MEC.[6]

2019 State capture testimony
Main article: Vrede Dairy Project

In October 2019, Rockman testified at The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, known as the Zondo Commission, about the provincial treasury's role in the corruption-tainted Vrede Dairy Project, a project meant to empower black farmers. The project was managed by the Gupta-owned Estina company, which led to more than R220 million in public funds, which were meant for the dairy, being siphoned towards the Gupta family and only 1% spent on actual farming, as reported by the City Press.[7]

Rockman said that she had visited the Gupta family on multiple occasions. She also said that she was aware of the first R30 million in public funds being transferred towards the project.[8] Newspaper reports later suggested that the R30 million was used to pay for the 2013 wedding of Vega Gupta at the Sun City resort in the North West Province.[9] In the end, from 2013 to 2016, the provincial government paid R334 million towards the Guptas with little being spent on farming.[10][11]

Rockman mentioned in her testimony that she had met with Guptas in February 2014 about reports of cows dying.[12][8] She also mentioned that her department was reportedly "stuck" with what the provincial Agriculture Department presented.[8] She, later on, in her testimony said that the project should have been put through a tender process and that she was concerned that there was "no public process". It was unknown to the provincial treasury department on why Estina had been chosen for the project and Rockman claimed that it would have been "unlikely" for Estina to get the tender if it had gone through a public process.[13]

Also in her testimony, Rockman mentioned that the provincial government had gone into an agreement with the now-defunct Gupta-owned The New Age to buy around 4,000 copies of the paper daily.[14] She said: "The subscription was to give support to The New Age as a new entrant to the market."[8]

Personal life

Rockman's daughter, Caitlyn, is a model.[15]

References
  1. Elzabe Rockman
  2. "Magashule sacks Free State finance MEC". City Press - News24. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. "New faces in FState executive". The Citizen. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. Khalane, Selloane (29 March 2017). "Rockman empowered to root". Express. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. Makhafola, Gertrude (9 May 2018). "Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela reshuffles Cabinet". IOL News. Johannesburg. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. Nkuyane, Lucky (28 May 2019). "ANC youth leader in FS appointed as MEC; tasked with unemployment". OFM. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  7. Mashego, Abram (21 January 2018). "Inside the Gupta heist". City Press. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  8. Chabalala, Jeanette (22 April 2020). "Free State govt supported The New Age as a new player in the market - former finance MEC". News24. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  9. "#GuptaLeaks: How millions milked from FS govt paid for Sun City wedding". EWN. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2020. KPMG were the auditors of the Guptas' Linkway Trading (Pty) Ltd. This company, we shall see, played a crucial role in allowing the diversion of cash earmarked for the Free State's Vrede dairy project to reimburse most of the wedding expenses – R30-million to be exact.
  10. Smith, Charles (13 February 2019). "Holy cow! Bank statements reveal how Free State government paid Guptas over R330m for Estina dairy farm". News24. Retrieved 22 April 2020. Bank statements show that the Free State government paid R334 202 652 over less than two years, from July 2014 to April 2016, to Indian company Estina.
  11. "Magashule must account for Estina farm saga: Vavi". SABC News Online. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  12. Zulu, Sfiso (16 October 2019). "Concerns over cattle dying at Estina farm were raised with Guptas, inquiry told". EWN. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  13. "Ex-finance MEC says Vrede dairy farm project should have been put to tender". The Citizen. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  14. Umraw, Amil (16 October 2019). "Free State bought 4,000 copies a day of Gupta newspaper, Zondo probe told". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  15. "Caitlyn to Rock the United States". Bloemfontein Courant. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
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