40 travel scam MPs face court
2005-01-22 21:36
Cape Town - Twenty seven current MPs and 13 former MPs are to be prosecuted for their role in the parliamentary travel voucher scam, the Scorpions said in a long-awaited announcement on Friday.
"After considering the evidence and consulting with the affected parties, we have decided to prosecute certain members of parliament in this matter," spokesman Sipho Ngwema said.
"Their names will not be released until they have been notified formally. The 40 members concerned will be notified next week and be brought before court immediately thereafter."
Ngwema would not say what political parties they belonged to, or whether the state would be demanding that they pay bail.
"We are not sure if we want to give this sort of detail before the court appearance," he said.
His announcement follows an intensive investigation, including a painstaking forensic probe, by the Scorpions after they took over the case from the SA Police Service in June last year.
Seven travel agency employees and bosses have already been arrested in connection with the scam and have made several appearances in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court.
One of the Scorpions prosecutors involved in the case revealed in December that the unit was under "immense pressure" to complete the investigation.
The prosecutor, Jannie Van Vuuren, said then the Scorpions had received "representations" on the case from a number of MPs, but declined to say what these were about.
Ngwema said on Friday a decision still had to be taken on whether the MPs' trial would be joined with that of the travel agents.
The 40 were the only MPs, current and former, who would be charged.
He said they would be entitled to make representations on the merits of the charges against them, offer evidence as witnesses, and engage the prosecuting authority in plea-bargaining.
Asked if any had already made a plea bargain approach, he said: "Not necessarily. If they want to, they can engage us."
Parliament would soon be given a report detailing the outcome of the investigation and "certain recommendations".
Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said in reaction to the news that there had previously been indications that more than 100 MPs had a "serious involvement" with the scam.
"We hope that the 40 will not be taking the heat while the rest get off the hook," he said.
ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said the party would comment only when any arrests actually took place.
"We can't be ready to comment on an issue that hasn't happened," he said.
- SAPA