The news that the case file for the PetroSA claim against Imvume Management cannot be found is further evidence of a justice system in a state of advanced decay, according to Hendrik Schmidt, who speaks for the Democratic Alliance (DA) on minerals and energy affairs.
”More disturbingly,” Schmidt said on Tuesday, ”it gives further credence to the impression that the state will do everything in its power to suppress any investigation in the Oilgate affair.”
A report in Tuesday’s morning newspapers said that the case file cannot be located. Instead of the full case file, the registry of the Johannesburg High Court has only an empty cover created on October 5, marked ”duplicate file”.
An official said that the file was probably in the typing pool, but a typing pool official said it was not there, but should be in the registry.
The Johannesburg Attorneys’ Association described the courts as ”in a state of chaos”.
Schmidt said that the significance of the PetroSA/Imvume case could not be overstated.
”The Oilgate scandal goes to the heart of the African National Congress’s term of office and the nature of its political administration, where a state entity was used to finance a political party,” he said.
He called on Brigitte Mabandla, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional development, to intervene to establish what happened to the case file and to speed up the conclusion of the case.
”We call upon the minister to ensure that a duplicate police docket is compiled so that the investigation into the alleged illegal activities by members of Imvume and/or PetroSA continues,” Schmidt said. — I-Net Bridge