Two Sunday newspapers have reported that South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande is being investigated for alleged theft and fraud.
In very similar reports, the Sunday Times and City Press wrote that a businessman claimed in an affidavit that he donated R500 000 to the SACP in 2002, but the money never reached the party coffers.
The Sunday Times named the businessman as Charles Kasinja Modise, but the City Press did not.
The reports said a case was opened at Bedfordview police station this week and has since been taken over by the Gauteng head office.
The Sunday Times reported that the businessman claimed in his affidavit that Nzimande had ”unlawfully taken the money for his own use, breaking the trust I had in him to take the money to the treasurer [Phillip Dexter]”.
Dexter has been suspended for 12 months for criticising the party.
The donation was requested by Congress of South African Trade Unions president Willie Madisha, who also collected the money.
According to Modise, Madisha gave it to Nzimande.
The Sunday Times said a year-long investigation by Dexter into the whereabouts of the money was fruitless.
Dexter told the newspaper he was aware of the case, and had been contacted by police.
He said he had referred the matter to his attorneys for advice as it ”is a very serious issue”.
The City Press report said that both Madisha and Dexter had been interviewed by police about the case.
The Sunday Times wrote that Madisha refused to comment.
The newspaper said SACP chairperson Gwede Mantashe rejected the allegations as an attempt to damage Nzimande’s reputation.
Mantashe also told City Press that the SACP was yet to hear from police about the allegations, but he found ”a number of things very strange” with the case.
”What comes out of this is that he [the businessman] says he gave R500 000 cash to the party. That sounds like money laundering. … The second thing is that he didn’t give it to Blade but to Madisha. How does he then press charges against a person he didn’t give money to? It would have made sense to me if he was taking action against the party,” Mantashe told City Press. – Sapa