Home | News | MPs want E31 million returned in seven days

MPs want E31 million returned in seven days

28/10/2010 00:00:00 SIBONGILE SUKATI

Font size:

LOBAMBA — Parliament has instructed three ministers to recall the E31 million that was paid to EssaHolmes (PTY) Limited for land purchase for the construction of foreign embassies with immediate effect.

The ministers were given seven days to do so which effectively means the money should be back in the Consolidated Fund by next week Thursday.
This was adopted after the Finance Committee had presented its amendments to the report on what has now been termed the illegal purchase of the land.

The ministers are Minister of Finance Majozi Sithole, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Lindiwe Dlamini and Minister of Economic Planning and Development Prince Hlangusemphi. “The transaction should be cancelled because those funds were obtained outside the legal framework of the country, which is tantamount to theft,” announced Finance Committee Chairman Marwick Khumalo.

The three ministers were given seven days to recall the money weekend inclusive.
“The Finance Committee should then report back to Parliament after the ministers have reported to it after which the House would pronounce itself on the matter,” said Khumalo.

The committee said Dlamini had displayed a serious dereliction of duty hence ‘tinkhomo tidle emabele abuka’.
The committee said the Finance Minister Sithole as head of the ministry responsible for public finance and also who piloted the Appropriation Bill of 2010 should have left no room for non-compliance with Parliament’s resolutions. “It is inconceivable how his ministry approved the release of E31million without Parliament’s authority yet it is the custodian of public funds,” resolved MPs.

Latib Essa one of the directors and owners of the land said the land purchase deal was a simple willing buyer, willing seller transaction.
The finance minister was further told to put in place a mechanism that will ensure that all ministries were not just privy to Parliament’s resolutions after the Appropriation Bill had been passed, but they fully comply with the resolutions.

The MPs said the finance minister should also produce a clear plan of action on how his ministry intended to improve the financial management system and should report to the Finance Committee once it had been implemented before the end of the financial year.

Comments

Come on journalists - we need to know who Mr Latib Essa's partners were in this escapade - who were the other directors of the company and who were the other land owners whose names he refuses to tell us? He was not going to be the only one to benefit.
Oct 28, 2010, 11:22 AM, Laura Norder (thally@mac.com)

THIS ARTICLE IS VERY INTERESTING-HOW DID HE PURCHASE THE LAND IN THE FIRST PLACE-AND WHO IS THIS MR.ESSA-WILL MAKE VERY INTERESTING READING TO KNOW.KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK-HOPE THE MONEY HAS NOT LEFT SZ!
Oct 28, 2010, 1:17 PM, VIC 1 (vgd@telkomsa.net)