Former New National Party (NNP) leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk should have been in the dock in the Roodefontein case alongside him, David Malatsi said on Friday.
”I personally feel somewhere, somehow, I was used as a fall guy by some people,” he told the Bellville Regional Court in Cape Town.
Malatsi, a former Western Cape provincial minister of environment, was testifying in mitigation of sentence after being convicted of corruption on Wednesday.
He was found guilty of accepting a R100 000 donation to the NNP from developer Count Riccardo Agusta to lubricate provincial approval of Agusta’s proposed Roodefontein golf estate at Plettenberg Bay.
Agusta has paid a R1-million fine under a plea agreement with the Scorpions, while Malatsi’s co-accused, former Western Cape premier Peter Marais, was on Wednesday found not guilty.
Malatsi told the court on Friday it was Van Schalkwyk who instructed him to go out and raise funds for the party. Although Van Schalkwyk was ”never specific” about whether this should include fundraising by corrupt means, he had known where the Agusta money came from.
Since the benefit of the donation went to the NNP, the party and its leadership should have been in the dock with him.
”The benefits were due to the party, not to individuals,” he said.
He also said the NNP had ”played a Houdini” by ”vanishing out of existence” when it became clear that it could be held to account for the Agusta bribe.
The NNP was formally dissolved earlier this year and many of its members joined the African National Congress. One of them was Van Schalkwyk, who is now the national minister for environmental affairs and tourism.
Challenged by prosecutor Bruce Morrison on the fact that he had not expressed regret for his actions, Malatsi said he felt sorry that he had ever been a member of the NNP.
”When it comes to push they sell you out for convenience sake,” he said. ”I feel sorry for being naive.”
Pressed by Morrison, he said he felt remorseful ”about everything in this case”.
He said he hated corruption, because as a former president of the Democrat Union of Africa, he had seen what corruption did to some African economies.
”I would be happy in a world without corruption.”
Malatsi said he felt he had already paid his dues to society be resigning his position as deputy minister for social development in 2003, before his arrest by the Scorpions, a move which had entailed substantial financial loss.
”I was looking forward to being an international statesman, and this has been cut short by this trial. I would like to be given a second chance,” he said.
He also had a lot to contribute to the community.
”Maybe I failed to fit in with the Western Cape community, but I’m a responsible member of the South African community,” he said.
His attorney asked the court for correctional supervision but Morrison said a five-year jail term would be appropriate.
”We’re entitled to clean government,” he said. ”We cannot countenance … that a person in the position of a [provincial minister] should merely be rapped on the knuckles and given a fine.”
Morrison also defended the state’s decision not to call Agusta as a witness, saying it was dictated by the ”delicate nature” of Agusta’s personal circumstances, and ”health considerations” that had to be considered.
Magistrate Andre le Grange said he would pronounce sentence on December 11.
Van Schalkwyk’s spokesperson, Riaan Aucamp, said in response to Malatsi’s remarks that when the minister was premier of the Western Cape he had believed there were sufficient grounds to refer the Roodefontein matter to the Public Protector, who in turn referred it to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
”The NPA found that there was a prima facie case and decided to prosecute. The minister respects the court’s ruling,” Aucamp said. — Sapa