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The numerous allegations of serious fraud which has occurred in the Land Bank over recent years need to be brought to finality urgently. Allegations reported on in today's Sunday Times about fraud in the AgriBEE Fund are not all new, and shocking as they are, most have been in the public domain for some time now. Apart from this alleged fraud there are also other allegations of fraud and mismanagement, which have been investigated and reported on in reports. Forensic reports have been handed to investigating authorities such as the Police, the Scorpions, the Hawks and the NPA, including:
• A report on expenditure of some R570 million outside of the Bank's mandate on lifestyle developments such as golf estates and residential property developments;
• A report on expenditure of R146 million on IT infrastructure which the Bank did not need;
• Alleged corruption of millions of rand under the Mafisa scheme for emerging farmers;
• Alleged corruption of millions of rand in the AgriBEE Fund; and
• Numerous other internal probes by the Bank's internal audit section and private detectives.
Some of the reports evidently contain enough evidence to build corruption charges against numerous individuals, but nothing is happening, and some cases date back as far as 2006 and 2007. On Wednesday, 11 November the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Portfolio Committee on Finance will engage the Land Bank on their 2008/09 Annual Report, and we sincerely hope that this year's meeting will not be a futile repetition of previous meetings where the Board, Executive Team or minister could or would not shed any light on the contents of the reports or actions that would flow from them. The longer matters drag on the more the suspicion of a cover-up to protect friends will grow. Now is the time to take action. The DA will continue to pursue these matters vigorously until justice is seen to be done, and we call on the government to stop hiding behind the backs of investigating authorities. If the government is serious about rooting out corruption and if the official excuse is to be believed that investigating authorities are still considering the reports, then government must ensure that its investigating authorities get their acts together.