The extent of fraud involving travel vouchers used by South African Members of Parliament can’t yet be conclusively determined but the investigation may take several months, says National Assembly Speaker Frene Ginwala.
However, Ginwala said the scale of the fraud was “quite large” and possible fraud of R4-million had been identified.
She declined to comment on individual cases of alleged fraud involving members of Parliament (MPs), but indicated that the investigations had focused on members “from across the political spectrum”. She noted that vouchers used by all MPs would be investigated.
At a press conference at Parliament on Monday, the Speaker issued a statement indicating that six travel agencies were being probed, but she emphasised that there was “no evidence” at this stage that members of Parliament or parliamentary service staff “have acted with intent”.
The statement said: “A fraud has been committed against Parliament and we have been checking the transactions of all the travel agencies that we have been dealing with. So far only six are under investigation.”
“It is possible that members and staff have not adhered to the code of conduct by imprudently taking advantage of benefits offered or not reporting the nature of benefits received,” she said in the statement.
This follows months of investigation by Parliament into the fraudulent use of the voucher scheme. Members or their spouses are entitled to 60 flights a year if their constituencies are outside of the Western Cape. A Cape Town based MP receives 40 flights a year, while a broader Western Cape MP gets 50.
The speaker’s statement indicated that there was evidence that some members provided signed blank warrants to the travel agents. Accordingly it was not unusual for the Members’ Facilities Section to be presented with travel warrants that reflected several handwritings.
Cases examined showed that travel warrants had been altered by the travel agent or its representative to a destination different to that actually travelled by the member.
The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that among the MPs who would have to answer to auditors and police is National Council of Provinces chair Naledi Pandor. Her husband Sharif, it reported, had hired cars for which a travel agency had billed Parliament.
Ginwala said she hoped that journalists would investigate further and not simply write what people — including what travel agents — said about the matter. She felt it was newsworthy that Parliament was investigating the matter and had provided information about the progress of the probe. It would be unfortunate to focus on individuals allegedly involved, she argued. – I-Net Bridge