Publication: Business Day Issued: Date: 2007-11-07 Reporter: Wyndham Hartley

Mandela Fund Got Arms Payoff ­ de Lille

 

Publication 

Business Day
Date 2007-11-07
Reporter Wyndham Hartley

Web Link

www.businessday.co.za

 

Cape Town ­ African National Congress (ANC) heavyweight Mosiuoa Lekota and Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille have clashed again in the National Assembly ­ this time over allegations that the ANC received funds from one of the successful bidders in the R53bn arms deal.

De Lille was expelled from Parliament in the early days of the democratic order for suggesting some ANC leaders were apartheid spies. Since then they have frequently clashed with her over allegations of corruption in the arms deal.

Yesterday, De Lille, in a member's statement in the assembly, said that while up until now allegations that the ANC had received money from bidders in the arms deal were speculation, she could now show that the ANC had received R500 000 from ThyssenKrupp in 1999. She said the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Community Development Foundation had received similar amounts paid into a Swiss bank account. She said this "again illustrates the importance of having an act of Parliament to regulate private funding to political parties".

An enraged Lekota, the defence minister, said she was suggesting that Mandela was a crook who had taken money from arms deal contractors in order to promote his children's fund *1. He challenged De Lille to repeat her accusations outside the protection of the National Assembly so that Mandela would be in a position to protect himself. He said there had long been allegations of corruption in the arms deal but when people had been invited to make submissions to the government investigation of the arms deal, De Lille had been silent.

"Now, today, she comes here and says that money was paid to the ANC for arms deal contracts. She must bring the evidence. I reject this with contempt."

De Lille reminded the house of a statement by President Thabo Mbeki that in regard to laws to regulate the private funding of political parties, Parliament was the institution that should debate the matter.

Last week, former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein, who resigned as a result of his party's reaction to allegations of arms deal corruption, spoke of a strong possibility that some of the funds could have gone to the ANC.

With acknowledgements to Wyndham Hartley and Business Day.


*1       More likely : "taken money from arms deal contractors for his children's funds".


*2      People were invited to make submissions to the Public Phase of the government investigation of the arms deal under nincampoops like Selby Bawqa SC.

One such people was me and look where it got me :