Ithala probe still a secret

It has been two years since the awarding of a R169-million contract by Ithala Bank to construction company Bombe Chitey Construction Projects became the subject of a damning forensic probe.

But the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa)– the KZN legislature’s public finance watchdog – has yet to be presented with a copy of the investigation by the Department of Economic Development, and committee members raised questions on Tuesday on whether the findings of a subsequent commission of inquiry saw the light of day.

Also, MPLs want to know why the department had indicated previously that the report was so confidential that the document could only be provided to the committee chairman.

In 2010, controversy erupted when news broke that the head of Ithala at the time, Sipho Shabalala, had flouted tender regulations in the awarding of work for the construction of schools to Bombe Chitey.

The Sunday Tribune then reported that company owner Lungelo Radebe and Shabalala were subsequently investigated, and that it was recommended that Shabalala, who had vehemently lobbied for the appointment of Radebe’s company, face 23 disciplinary charges.

There was later an outcry when MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu gave Shabalala a written warning, with opposition parties likening it to a slap on the wrist.

Last year, the committee resolved that a date be set in January or February this year for the committee to consider the forensic report, and that Mabuyakhulu should explain why it needed to be considered in an in camera meeting.

The response from the department was that the matter was “highly sensitive, complex and requires a commission of inquiry to be set up in order to get the details of the forensic investigation”.

However, on Tuesday, in the absence of Mabuyakhulu, MPLs asked head of department Desmond Golding when there would be a report emanating from the inquiry. The newly appointed Golding could not answer the question.

MPL Belinda Scott responded that it was a “growing concern” that committees did not have access to forensic investigations, which meant they were in the dark about the “extent of fraud and corruption” and whether action taken was harsh enough.

Scopa chairman KK Nkosi told Golding that the committee did not take kindly to the lack of answers at Tuesday’s meeting. Department spokesman Bheko Madlala said that no further comment would be made on the matter yet. - The Mercury