/ 17 February 2009

DA opens case against premier, draws in Shilowa

A case has been opened to probe possible wrongdoings by Paul Mashatile after he apparently failed to report attempted fraud by the ANC's Carl Niehaus.

A case has been opened to investigate whether Gauteng premier Paul Mashatile committed any wrongdoing after he apparently failed to report attempted fraud by African National Congress spokesperson Carl Niehaus, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Police spokesperson Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo confirmed that a case had been opened at the Johannesburg Central police station.

The complaint was brought by Democratic Alliance leader in the Gauteng legislature, Jack Bloom, who said it included Mashatile, Niehaus and Pierre Swart, the other party to the alleged corruption.

Bloom said those implicated could extend to include all executive members of the legislature who had any knowledge of wrongdoing but did nothing, including former premier Mbhazima Shilowa, transport provincial minister Ignatius Jacobs, education provincial minister Angie Motshekga and Gauteng agriculture minister Khabisi Mosunkutu.

”Whoever may be implicated should be investigated … it could be that every member of the executive council knew about it.

”The three MECs [provincial ministers] other than Mashatile whose signatures were forged must have known about it … to our mind the investigation needs to establish exactly who knew and did nothing about it,” Bloom said.

On Friday, the Mail & Guardian reported that Niehaus allegedly forged the signatures of senior Gauteng officials, including Mashatile, while he was at the helm of the Gauteng Economic Development Agency (Geda).

The report said the letter was an attempt to secure a loan from a businessman who had wanted favourable conditions related to Johannesburg property deals.

The complaint centres on Mashatile’s failure to report attempted fraud committed by Niehaus while he was at Geda. Mashatile was the provincial finance minister at the time.

Gauteng provincial spokesperson Simon Zwane said the provincial government would cooperate with the police investigation.

”We would like to reiterate that we respect the law and will cooperate with any investigation by law enforcement agencies,” he said.

Bloom said he would lodge a similar complaint with the Special Investigations Unit, the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the South African Revenue Services, as there may be undeclared income by Niehaus.

The Independent Democrats on Sunday also laid charges of fraud against Niehaus at the same police station. — Sapa