JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Monday 7.00pm.
A FORMAL commission of inquiry headed by a senior retired judge will be established to investigate the Mpumalanga Parks Board in the province’s widest ranging anti-corruption investigation yet, premier Mathews Phosa has announced.
Speaking from his Nelspruit house, Phosa said the commission will investigate all possible irregularities in the MPB — and anyone associated with it — between 1994 and the present. Stressing that the commission is designed to be complimentary to Judge Willem Heath’s work in the province, Phosa said that it has been approved by the African National Congress’s provincial executive committee but will be completely independent. “We want a top retired legal man to head the commission but are a bit concerned about possible fees,” he added.
The commission is set to review high-profile scandals including alledged unethical business interests by suspended MPB chief executive, Alan Gray, and his associates, and their role in the secret R12,5-billion Dolphin deal.
The commission will also probe the more recent R1,3-billion promissory note scandal, the use of companies linked to politicians for MPB contracts, irregular travel, telephone and accommodation expenses and an illegal R20-million facilitation process used to by-pass the provincial tender board. — African Eye News Service