probe
Mungo Soggot
The Heath commission is in possession of an affidavit signed by a person who claims to have been present when a Gauteng MEC and other top officials received bribes of at least R1-million related to the award of a casino licence.
Sources in the Gauteng legislature and sources close to the commission this week confirmed the existence of the affidavit, which is believed to be Judge Willem Heath’s trump card in his Gauteng corruption investigation.
When asked to comment on the affidavit, a representative of Judge Heath’s Gauteng investigating team said he could not discuss details of the probe, while Judge Heath’s assistant, Guy Rich, said: “The unit has received an affidavit but can’t disclose its contents. The implication is that no politician is implicated in it.”
This week Judge Heath sought permission from Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshegka to start his investigation, after which the premier set up his own anti-corruption committee – a move opposition parties have construed as an attempt to evade a full-blown Heath probe.
Motshekga’s representative, Makhosini Nkosi, said he did not want to comment on the substance of Judge Heath’s investigation when asked if he knew of the affidavit.
Gauteng’s MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs Jabu Moleketi said he had not heard of the affidavit. He added that Judge Heath’s team “did not mention any affidavit” at the joint meeting this week with Motshekga. Moleketi said Judge Heath had indicated that there was little substance to any allegations made about the Gauteng government.
The distribution of Gauteng’s casino licences has been mired in controversy. In November, the finance committee of the Gauteng legislature sent 18 detailed questions about the licences to Moleketi, and to the province’s gambling and betting board.
The committee has yet to receive replies to the questionnaire, which urged the gambling board to provide detailed reasons for the allocation of the casino licences. The questions suggested that the licences had been awarded without fully reflecting the selection criteria established by the provincial government and the gambling board.
The finance committee also said in its list of questions that prospective bidders had not been informed of all the criteria used to determine the allocation of licences.
The Democratic Party’s Peter Leon said: “The existence of the affidavit is consistent with information that is in the DP’s possession,” but declined to comment further on the affidavit.
Leon said he hoped that the finance committee’s questions would be answered “fully and as soon as possible”.