Bruce Koloane has resigned from government after being recalled from the Netherlands, where he was serving as South Africa’s ambassador.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Dr Naledi Pandor revealed this in Parliament on Wednesday.
She was replying to a question from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Darren Bergman.
Bergman sought to know what action government would take against Koloane given his recent testimony at the state capture commission of inquiry.
In his testimony, Koloane admitted to “name-dropping” and abusing his office to enable the infamous landing of a Gupta private jet at Waterkloof Airforce Base in 2013.
He was Chief of Protocol at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) at the time.
In the public interest
Minister Pandor said she decided that it was in the public interest to recall Koloane back to headquarters following his testimony.
A letter to this effect was sent to him on the 12 of August. In terms of the provisions of the law, we allowed the ambassador the opportunity to make representations as to why he should not be transferred back.
Naledi Pandor
Koloane made representations, but they were insufficient to reverse the decision to recall him, Pandor added.
The matters revealed in the inquiry he gave evidence at were of such a nature that I believe they brought our government and country into disrepute.
Naledi Pandor
One month notice
DIRCO subsequently gave Koloane a one-month notice to return to South Africa.
However, the ambassador has chosen to resign from the department and government service altogether, Pandor said.