TUESDAY, 11.30AM
A FORENSIC audit of wine and spirits co-operative KWV ordered by Land and Agriculture Minister Derek Hanekom has held that certain of KWV’s assets “are of a public nature”.
Hanekom’s legal adviser Stephen Goldblatt said the audit, by Fisher, Hoffmann abd Sithole, had not quantified the extent of “public ownership”, but a report will be submitted within a week. The audit is part of Hanekom’s answering papers to KWV’s planned conversion from a co-operative to a public company, which were lodged with the Cape High Court on Monday. In April Hanekom lodged a court application to halt KWV’s conversion. He was given leave to intervene and had until Monday to file return papers.
KWV argues that the co-operative’s assets belong to its members, and it is believed to have refused to co-operate in the forensic audit.