Police are investigating Oilgate, says FF+

The Oilgate matter is still under investigation by the police after the Freedom Front Plus filed charges against Imvume Management in August last year, the party said in a statement on Monday.

The FF+ issued the statement after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said earlier on Monday it had yet to receive a complaint by the Democratic Alliance about its handling of the Oilgate scandal.

The FF+ said it initially contacted the NPA in June last year in connection with its concerns that Imvume Management had acted unlawfully by convincing PetroSA to make an advance payment of R15-million under false pretences in 2003.

The NPA then advised the FF+ rather to approach the South African Police Service and the Office of the Public Protector first in order to avoid a duplication of efforts.

“That is exactly what we did,” said the FF+‘s Willie Spies, “and we were recently advised by the investigating officer of the South African Police Service that the matter is still under investigation.

“We were therefore surprised to learn that the DA approached the National Prosecuting Authority.

“The recent comments by the NPA that it is not investigating the matter are therefore not surprising and are in line with the logical sequence of events.”

A court application by Imvume Management against the FF+ (which was brought against the FF+ for using parliamentary privilege to disclose certain alleged payments made by Imvume to the brother of Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the wife of Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya) is expected to be heard in the Johannesburg High Court soon, said Spies.—Sapa