/ 28 January 1999

HEATH TO PROBE IBA

JUDGE Willem Heath’s special anti-corruption unit should probe the unlawful and improper use of public funds by former Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) councillors, Public Protector Selby Baqwa said in a statement on Wednesday. The recommendation is contained in Baqwa’s Special Report on the Affairs of the IBA, which will be tabled in Parliament soon. His investigation, at the request of Parliament’s public accounts committee, followed a special report by the auditor general in May 1997, highlighting shortcomings in the IBA’s financial management. The IBA has been unable to recover more than R200000 from three councillors who allegedly charged personal expenses to their business credit cards and claimed allowances to which they were not entitled.