Opposition parties on Monday stepped up their attack on individuals allegedly involved in the so-called Oilgate scandal.
The Freedom Front Plus laid charges against Imvume Management, the company at the centre of the scandal, at a Cape Town police station just after 10.30am and the Democratic Alliance planned meetings with the National Prosecuting Authority and the tax man on the issue.
"The FF Plus is convinced that a prima facie case of fraud exists against Imvume Management (Pty) Ltd, as it appears from statements of PetroSA, as well as the report of the Public Protector, that Imvume convinced PetroSA to pay R15-million, to its detriment, to Imvume, based on certain pretences by Imvume," the FF Plus said.
DA MP Helen Zille said the party would make an appointment with the NPA in a bid to have it investigate Imvume's alleged wrongdoings as well as contacting the South African Revenue Service to establish if Imvume had paid tax on its R11 million donation to the African National Congress.
The ANC was reported to have been paid R11 million by the empowerment company, Imvume, before last year's elections.
The money was said to have been paid from an advanced payment of R15-million Imvume had received from PetroSA to procure oil from supplier Glencore - which Imvume never supplied.
Zille said her party was finalising its oilgate dossier on Monday before handing it to the NPA for consideration.
Since the DA first approached the prosecuting authority, "there has been significantly more information which has come to light," Zille said.
She said the DA would write to Sars commissioner Pravin Gordhan, asking if Imvume had paid the donation tax.
"Section 54 of the Income Tax Act states that any property (or money), disposed of by way of donation... is subject to a donation tax. At the current donations tax rate of 20 percent, Imvume's R11-million would incur a tax of R2,2-million," Zille said.
She noted that if this had not been paid within the three months of the donation being made then Imvume and the ANC would jointly be held responsible for the tax.
The DA said it also intended submitting parliamentary questions to the National Treasury to establish whether Imvume Management had ever been investigated by Sars on the tax issue.
Zille said the DA welcomed the news that the FF Plus had laid a charge with the police.
"We must make sure that the government does not get away with just passing R11-million into the bank accounts of the ANC."
The new onslaught follows a decision by the Public Protector, Lawrence Mushwana, in which he found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Mushwana's report also dismissed accusations against newly elected Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, saying they were not substantiated and without merit.
It has been alleged that during her term as minister of minerals and energy Mlambo-Ngcuka improperly influenced PetroSA's decision to make the advance payment to Imvume. - Sapa