JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Monday, 6.30PM.
THE Heath special investigative unit spent four hours raiding the Mpumalanga Parks Board’s head office in Nelspruit on Monday morning after serving search and seizure papers on MPB chief executive Alan Gray.
Unit investigators declined to comment on Monday, insisting that their investigation into the drafting of three promissory notes worth R340-million was at a very sensitive stage.
Unit investigation manager Jonathan Dutton would only confirm that four of his own staff and three forensic auditors from the Auditor General’s office took part in the raid.
Premier Mathews Phosa said at a press conference on Monday afternoon that he was aware of the raid and said an injunction had been served on the MPB to prevent it from issuing any negotiable instruments. He also confirmed that he had requested Gray not to speak to the press on Friday but insisted that the request was not a gagging order.
Gray was unable to defend either himself or the allegedly illegal R340-million deal between MPB and a South African-based investment broker, Fenetic Investments, on the weekend when news broke that Heath was investigating.
Finance minister Trevor Manuel branded the deal illegal on Saturday, pointing out that it contravened the Borrowing Powers of Provinces Act of 1996 and didn’t have approval from the state treasury, Reserve Bank, national loans co-ordinating committee or Manuel’s own office.
Phosa confirmed that Gray had attempted to get both his and Manuel’s permission to secure loans last week but stressed that the MPB had effectively been seeking retro-active approval for the scheme. – African Eye News Service