Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool on Wednesday welcomed the provincial auditor general’s report into a R227 532 car-allowance overpayment to him, saying the findings are a vindication and manifestation of his commitment to transparency.
”I am indeed relieved, but have always been confident that the findings would prove that the overpayment was a systematic and technical error and not an act of corruption or theft on my part, as inferred by the DA [Democratic Alliance],” said Rasool.
Rasool affirmed his government’s commitment to good governance and transparency, saying the DA’s style of opposition politics, casting aspersions of graft and corruption, will not help create a conducive environment for a ”home for all” — the African National Congress’s rallying cry for the Western Cape.
However, the DA’s Robin Carlisle said the report, which was tabled in the provincial legislature on Tuesday, raises two important questions.
The first relates to whether Rasool should have picked up the monthly car-allowance overpayment of R8 751, which saw his gross salary of R46 000 increase by 19%.
”However, the lump sum of R74 910, or approximately R60 000 face value, should have rung alarm bells in all directions,” said Carlisle in a statement on Wednesday.
Carlisle said the fact that the provincial treasury did nothing — despite being alerted in May 2003 about Rasool’s incorrect salary — is ”unforgivable”.
Carlisle said a second-year articled clerk would have taken less than a day to get to the facts, and until the treasury provides good reasons for not sorting out the overpayment, the matter will not be finalised.
He described the treasury’s explanations as ”bizarre, nonsensical, unacceptable and lame-brained”. — Sapa