FIENIE GROBLER, Johannesburg | Monday
THE commission of inquiry into the depreciation of the rand will start hearings at the beginning of March, chairman John Myburgh said on Monday.
He said the commission would privately conduct interviews and gather evidence before starting with the hearings.
Several bodies were appointed on Friday to assist with the investigations. They include Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, Gobodo Forensic & Investigative Accounting, Brian Ellis Abrahams, Hofmeyr Herbstein & Gihwala Inc and Tabacks Inc.
Hotlines had been set up for members of the public who believe they have information related to the investigations. Whistleblowers can phone the KPMG hotline number, 0800114711, or the Deloitte & Touche tip-offs line, 0800121314 (South African callers) and +27315086335 (international callers).
Myburgh said the commission would, among others, focus on the relevant transactions of banks, especially those which were authorised dealers.
”In order to get an understanding of the nature of the different markets and the type of transactions concluded by a typical bank, the commission has requested Standard Bank and Investec Bank to assist it in obtaining that understanding.”
Myburgh emphasised that these two banks were chosen because of the large scale of their operations.
”To avoid any suggestion that those banks were ‘fingered’, the commission wishes to make it clear that they were not in any way implicated by Mr Kevin Wakeford in his report to the President.
”Once that process has been completed, all banks and other institutions whose transactions fall within the terms of reference will be investigated.”
Wakeford, chief executive of the SA Chamber of Business, earlier said the rapid depreciation of the rand at the end of last year was suspicious.
He said institutions and individuals had enriched themselves at the currency’s expense, evidence of which he handed to the Presidency.
This prompted President Thabo Mbeki to set up the commission.
He appointed commissioners Mandla Gantsho and Christine Qunta to assist Myburgh, former Judge President of the Labour Appeals Court.
Myburgh on Monday said he could not comment on the information Wakeford disclosed to the president.
”It would be inappropriate for me to deal with Wakeford’s allegations now … all I can say is that they will be investigated,” he told reporters in Johannesburg.
Myburgh said financial institutions, which might come under investigation, had indicated they would co-operate with the commission.
In the past two weeks, Myburgh and commissioner Mandla Gantsho had held meetings with South African and foreign banks, representative bodies such as Business South Africa and the South African Foundation, the Reserve Bank and National Treasury.
They were requested to collect relevant data and documentation to the inquiry, identify potential witnesses and prepare witness statements.
Myburgh acknowledged that the period set aside for the commission’s work — a final report is expected end April – could be too short.
”If, by the end of April, we see that a final report would be premature, we would ask for an extension,” he said. – Sapa