Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla is to advise the government on how to respond to a report detailing abuse of the Iraq oil-for-food programme — while her party, using her daughter’s law firm, is suing the Mail & Guardian for publishing similar facts.
Last week’s release of the final report of the independent inquiry committee has sparked probes worldwide. The committee, appointed by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, found widespread corruption; Saddam Hussein’s regime had traded crude oil allocations for political support and collected kickbacks from firms that participated in the oil-for-food programme.
Of the 2Â 200-plus firms the committee listed as possibly having paid kickbacks, seven are South African. The committee highlighted the role of African National Congress oilman Sandi Majali as a case study of how the Iraqi regime had oiled political support. Majali and his company Imvume Management have denied wrongdoing.
After braving opposition calls since the weekend for a judicial commission of inquiry, the government said on Tuesday that the justice ministry was “studying the contents of this report and will advise the government on the best course of action”.
Justice spokesperson Leslie Mashokwe said Mabandla’s deputy, Johnny de Lange, would study the report and refer areas in need of attention to the state law advisers. De Lange would then advise Mabandla, who in turn would advise the government. The mandate was “open”, he said.
Countries including France, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States, Italy and Russia have already announced probes or started prosecutions based on information that was either in the committee report or had been obtained earlier. In the US, prosecutors have already secured plea bargain convictions.
Depending on national law, firms and individuals who paid kickbacks, or who traded lobbying favours for oil allocations, may be exposed to corruption or related charges.
The M&G published one of the first comprehensive accounts of oil-for-food abuse in February last year, revealing how top party officials had travelled to Baghdad with Majali when he sought oil allocations.
The report concluded: “It is clear that Majali was close enough to South Africa’s ruling party to give the Iraqis comfort that they were dealing with an entity which could influence South African authorities. The ANC had joined a dangerous courtship dance with Saddam.”
The ANC brought a R3-million defamation suit against the M&G for that and a follow-up article. The law firm acting for the ANC is Mahlangu Nkomo Mabandla Ratshimbilani. Mabandla’s daughter, Nonkululeko Mabandla, is one of the partners.
The committee’s report made similar findings to the M&G, saying Majali’s companies had “profited from Iraq’s efforts to deliver business opportunities to South Africa in return for political support”, and that Majali and his partners had “used their relationships with South African political leaders to obtain oil allocations under the programme”.
Now Mabandla has to advise the government on a course of action. It may be asked whether she and the government will plot a strong course in view of the ruling party’s implication in the scandal. When asked if the involvement of her daughter’s firm in a dispute involving many of the same facts would burden the minister with a conflict of interests, her department on Thursday denied this was so.
In a statement — repeated in an advertisement in this week’s M&G —the department said “the outcome of the lawsuit cannot be impacted upon by any recommendation made”. It added that Mabandla’s daughter was not personally involved in handling the ANC’s case.
This week, former judge Richard Goldstone, one of three lead members of the inquiry committee, said he could not comment on what South Africa should do. But he stressed that, in general, “prosecutions authorities should investigate any information they have, either from our reports or otherwise. They should investigate any unlawful conduct.”
Goldstone said the committee had collected considerable evidence — millions of documents from the files of the UN, the former Iraqi regime and banking documents from countries such as Switzerland and Jordan. It had also interviewed players in many countries, including key members of Saddam’s regime.
He said the committee would keep its offices open until the end of the month to accommodate requests from judicial authorities.
Although pleadings closed in June last year, the ANC has not yet applied for a court date for a hearing in its action against the M&G.
The M&G maintains that the case against it is exceedingly vague. It has obtained a court order that the ANC should provide it with proper further particulars, for which the deadline expired last Friday. M&G lawyer Pam Stein wrote to the ANC’s lawyers this week saying their clients were in contempt of court.
She added: “It may now be worthwhile for your clients to consider withdrawing their claim and tendering our clients’ costs in the light of the findings published by the United Nations’ independent inquiry report.”