DA slates R11m 'donation'
2005-05-20 16:46
Johannesburg - Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon called on Friday for a judicial inquiry into an R11m apparent pre-election payment to the African National Congress.
He said: "The DA is alarmed at the allegations made in the Mail & Guardian that the ANC funded its 2004 election campaign using millions of rands of taxpayers' money that was funnelled through a black empowerment enterprise with close connections to the ruling party.
"If these allegations are true, the ANC and its leaders would be guilty of corruption on a massive scale and of undermining the electoral process of this country.
"Moreover, the entire framework of the black economic empowerment (BEE) policy in South Africa has been damaged by these allegations, since they suggest a pattern in which BEE companies are used by the ANC to provide kickbacks to the ruling party."
Calls for urgent probe
The DA also was concerned about international consequences since black economic empowerment company Imvume had been named as one of those which allegedly benefited from corruption in the UN's oil-for-food programme in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's rule.
"The DA therefore calls for an urgent judicial commission of inquiry into the ANC's "Oil-for-Votes" scandal."
The newspaper reported on Friday that state oil company PetroSA paid a R15m advance to Imvume towards payment to Imvume's Swiss-based partner, Glencore International, for feedstock sourced for PetroSA's Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid fuels plant.
The Mail and Guardian said the advance was deposited by PetroSA into an account different to that usually used for payments to Imvume and four cheques to a value of R11m apparently were given to the ANC by Imvume's Sandi Majali in December 2003, ahead of the April 2004 elections.
Imvume said the donation to the ANC was "a private affair" and the ANC said that it terms of a recent court ruling it did not have to discuss donations given to it.
However, Imvume did not pay Glencore the R15m advance and withheld another about R3m out of about R100m due to Glencore.
PetroSA subsequently paid Glencore about R18m outstanding after threats by Glencore to withhold cargo.
Changed the account number
PetroSA said that if it did not pay, the refinery would cease operating for a minimum of 40 days at a cost of US$1m daily.
PetroSA also said it had changed the account number at Imvume's request and had not found any wrongdoing relating to PetroSA.
Imvume told the newspaper that an issue of commission from Glencore International remained unresolved and that it intended to honour its obligations to PetroSA for repayment.
PetroSA said it suspended liquidation proceedings against Imvume because they had a greater chance of recovering the funds owed if Imvume remained operational.
- SAPA