Travel executive Soraya Beukes, one of the suspects in the parliamentary travel voucher scam, was taken back into custody on Friday after the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court revoked her R100 000 bail for giving false information in court.
Beukes was the owner of the recently liquidated agency Business and Executive Travel.
In an attempt last month to have her bail conditions relaxed to allow her a trip to Maputo in Mozambique, she falsely informed the court that she had an invitation to visit a hotel in Maputo to make a financial assessment of the hotel.
However, at the time of her application for the relaxation of the conditions the invitation had been withdrawn by the hotel proprietor, who had ”smelled a rat” about her visit.
Scorpions prosecutor Ben Avenant alleged this was an attempt to abscond, by escaping to Mozambique.
He launched an urgent application, before magistrate Hennie le Roux, to revoke her bail on the grounds that the falsity made her a serious flight risk.
Le Roux said Beukes had declined to testify in order to refute the inference that she had wished to abscond.
He said Avenant had presented the court with a valid case, which had placed an onus on Beukes to present to the court her version, which would have been subjected to cross-examination by Avenant.
However, Beukes had instead elected to remain silent, in line with her constitutional right.
Le Roux said the constitutional right to remain silent was not an absolute one, and if she chose to remain silent in circumstances where her testimony was necessary, she had to face the consequences.
Le Roux added: ”She is the author of her own demise.”
He said the reason for her decision not to testify was to avoid having to answer incriminating questions.
Le Roux said she had at the very last minute abandoned her application for the relaxation of her bail conditions — at the point where the court was about to give judgment.
However, Scorpions senior investigator Kobus Roelofse had then thoroughly investigated the veracity of the information she had placed before the court.
Roelofse had spoken to the hotel proprietor, and this was how the falsity about the reason for her trip to Maputo had come to light.
Le Roux said the court had in fact warned Beukes about the importance of an explanation, but she had nevertheless decided to remain silent. ‒ Sapa