Marais: Corruption claimed

2003-05-29 13:13

Cape Town - The High Court heard allegations on Thursday of corruption and maladministration involving more than R1m in the Western Cape social welfare department.

Former provincial MEC Freda Adams said: "I concluded that (there was) irresponsible behaviour with public funds, and monitoring of projects was not done properly."

Adams is suing Peter Marais, now leader of the New Labour Party, and Gerald Morkel. Morkel and Marais are former premiers of the Western Cape and former mayors of Cape Town.

Marais faces two defamation claims - one for R125 000 and the other for R1m - and a R1.2m claim for sexual harassment.

Morkel is facing a defamation claim of R500 000. Marais has lodged a counter-claim of R2.5m for defamation.

Testifying on Thursday, Adams said that when she was appointed as MEC responsible for poverty alleviation she conducted an audit of the 142 projects receiving funds from the provincial social welfare department.

Adams said her audit revealed that more than R1m had been allocated to projects without conforming to the necessary checks and balances.

Dassie Route project

"In the Leeu Gamka bakery project, about R200 000 was allocated," she said and added that when she visited the project she found a small, roofless structure, with "expensive equipment rusting."

She said R520 000 was allocated to a Dassie route tourism project near Montagu without a business plan or contract with the provincial government.

Another R500 000 was handed over to the Paternoster open-air fish market, which Adams feared could have been a "double cheque" or "double the payments".

She also said that R100 000 was allocated to the Masizake soup kitchen near Nyanga.

Adams said then-premier Gerald Morkel ignored her report about these incidents of "maladministration, mismanagement and corruption".

He apparently said that he had just been given the best premier in the land award, as well as eight Golden Arrow bus awards and did not countenance language such as maladministration, mismanagement and corruption in his administration.

Taped conversations

Marais's counsel, Anwar Albertus SC, said earlier in the day he would contest the admissibility of any taped conversations or transcripts Adams submitted as evidence.

Albertus said such taped conversations or transcripts were inadmissible because they were done "by stealth without people's knowledge and consent" and were, in fact, illegally obtained.

Judge Anton Veldhuizen said he would need to hear full arguments in this regard, but allowed evidence to continue as it did not allude to the taped conversations or transcripts.

The hearing continues.

- SAPA