Speaker's travel 'ok'

2004-08-31 07:14

Gert Coetzee

Cape Town - All travel-related transactions carried out by Baleka Mbete, speaker of the national assembly, are above-board, says parliament.

Responding to allegations published in the Sunday Times - that Mbete had used travel vouchers for personal use - parliament on Monday issued a statement denying the claims, saying allegations that she used travel vouchers for personal use were misleading and incorrect.

The claims also showed ignorance or they were a deliberate attempt to damage the reputation of the speaker, read a statement by parliament.

The newspaper reported that Mbete allegedly used vouchers to pay for an air ticket for her daughter and for cars - which is in breech of parliamentary rules.

But, the Democratic Alliance has called for Mbete to recuse herself until proven innocent.

Meanwhile, the Scorpions deny they are dragging their heels on the investigation into 19 African National Congress MPs allegedly implicated in the travel scandal.

Appointed legal representative

Four MPs from other parties have held talks with the national prosecutions authority (NPA), but the 19 ANC MPs have yet to do so.

They have appointed Seth Nthai as their legal representative.

Sipho Ngwema, spokesperson for the NPA, told Volksblad newspaper the delay had been caused by the ANC.

The Scorpions have to work through the ANC MPs' attorneys for appointments, he said.

However, Ngwema denied that the NPA was politically obligated to the ANC.

He said the NPA had a deadline, but he would not elaborate on what they would do if this passed without talks being held.

Meanwhile, parliamentary spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said the reporter had been provided with all the facts, but had not used them.

"The hiring of the car on February 3 2001 had been handled through the government garage. As a chairing official, the speaker has a right to this."

He said the hiring of a car in November 2001 was carried out by parliament's finance department and that no travel voucher was used for either of these cars, nor for one hired in May 2002.

Kebeni also said that Mbete had used Voyager miles to pay for her daughter's ticket from Nanning to Hong Kong in 2001.

However, Mbete has been in hot water before.

Didn't have time for queues

A decision was taken a few years ago by the attorney-general in Pretoria not to prosecute her after she accepted an invalid driving licence in 1996.

At the time, Mbete said she had not had time to stand in queues and had asked Steve Mabone, former MEC for safety and security in Mpumalanga, to do her a favour.

The attorney-general was not convinced that she purposefully had got her driver's licence by illegal means. A commission of inquiry came to the same conclusion.

However, Mabona was forced to resign because of his involvement in illegal driving licences.

- Beeld