The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested that the minister of justice appear before the portfolio committee of trade and industry.
The Justice department admitted, in a Parliamentary reply to the DA, that they did not send a copy of the judgement associated with the fraud case of Tony Yengeni to the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro).
“On Friday I wrote to the chairperson of the portfolio committee of trade and industry to request that the Minister of Justice, Jeff Radebe, appears before the committee, at the earliest opportunity, to explain this apparent breach,” said DA Member of Parliament Tim Harris.
He said the DA’s justice spokesperson, Dean Smuts, will also approach the chairperson of the justice committee to request that the minister also appears before that committee.
Yengeni resigned the directorships he held in six companies on November 4 after the DA laid charges against him for serving as a director of the companies. By law, his jail sentence for fraud precluded him from doing so.
Breach of the Comapnies Act
Section 218 of the Companies Act disqualifies anybody jailed for theft, fraud, forgery or perjury from being a company director, unless the high court sets aside the disqualification.
Harris said Radebe’s reply was an admission that the justice department had breached the Companies Act.
Radebe said on Friday that Yengeni’s fraud conviction was not sent to Cipro as there is “no statutory obligation” on the justice department to pass on judgements to the body.
However, it was decided at a recent meeting of regional heads of the justice department that they will be requested “to put measures in place to provide Cipro with any required court information”. — Sapa