9 December 1999
It hereby announced that DR Penuell Maduna, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, has requested the Office for Serious Economic Offences (OSEO), to takeover the investigations into the allegations of corruption in the Pretoria Master's Office.
This followed investigations by a special Ministerial committee which was appointed by the Minister early in October to investigate allegations of corruption in the Pretoria Master's Office.
The investigations were led by two Deputy Director-Generals in the Department, Mr Hassen Ebrahim and Mr Mike Tshishonga.
The investigations thus far suggest that prima fade evidence does exist to substantiate the allegations of corruption. It is within this context that the Minister requested the intervention by the Office for Serious Economic Offences.
OSEO will investigate allegations of corruption both within the Master's office as well as alleged corruption by external role-players including liquidators and auctioneers.
The Office of the Auditor General has also been commissioned by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to do a comprehensive audit at the Pretoria office and to report on the system and procedures currently utilised by the Masters Office.
"We are not satisfied that the current procedure for appointing liquidators of sequestrated estates is transparent enough. In fact, we suspect that the procedure lends to corruption and that remedial action is required in this regard," Maduna said.
The Minister went on to say that the discretion of the Master to determine special fee rates in the finalisation of certain insolvent estates had to be reviewed.
A third area of concern for the Department is the inadequacy of the existing legislation. The South African Law Commission (SALC) is currently reviewing the entire legislative framework and will make recommendations to the Department early next year. The Minister has asked that this work be seeded up and treated as a matter of urgency.
The Minister said that the existing legislation is outdated and needs revision. To speed up the process of transformation, the Department's drafting team will work closely with the SALC to ensure that legislation is produced within acceptable time frames. The Minister added that the reports from the Office of the Auditor General and OSEO would be scrutinised by the drafting team. The knowledge gained from the investigations should inform the decisions made about establishing an effective and enable legislative framework for the Master's office.
The Minister said that he approve an integrated approach the Department was taking in resolving problems that exist at the Pretoria Master's office. This approach would lead to the conviction of those found guilty of corruption as well as to the establishment of appropriate and transparent systems as well as the development of sound and enabling legislation.
Possible prosecutions are expected as early as January next year.
ISSUED BY PAUL SETSETSE: SPOKESPERSON TO THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE
AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, DR PENUELL MADUNA
Pretoria
9 DECEMBER 1999