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The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes yet further reports of alleged payments made by businesspeople to ANC Youth League Leader, Julius Malema, in exchange for government tenders. 

Today I will follow up on my previous letters written to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Public Protector, requesting investigations into the personal finances of Mr Malema. The alleged payments of R1.2 million that have now come to light add greater urgency to our requests for a full investigation into who is financing his upmarket lifestyle and the building of his R16m Sandown home.

While all information regarding lifestyle audits at SARS remains strictly confidential, the DA has been assured that our request has been forwarded to the fraud department where such enquires are investigated. 

We have also received acknowledgement of the receipt from the Public Protector's office, and are awaiting confirmation as to whether she will go ahead with investigations.

If these allegations prove true, Mr Malema might well find himself implicated in tender fraud to the tune of hundreds of millions of rands. There is a big debate in South Africa today around accountability and transparency. It is most certainly in the public interest to know which politicians, or in Mr Malema’s case which members of a structure of a political party, are involved in corrupt, self serving practices that serve only to promote the interests of a privileged few while the great majority of South Africans continue to live in poverty.