Former finance minister Des van Rooyen. File picture: Siyasanga Mbambani/GCIS
Johannesburg - Former finance minister Des van Rooyen has demanded that the State Capture Commission withdraw some of the allegations levelled against him in the first part of the State Capture report – but the Commission says it has done nothing wrong.
Van Rooyen, through his lawyers, wrote to the Commission about some of the allegations levelled against him in the first part of the report.
The letter refers to paragraphs 260 to 266, which appear in Volume 1 of the report and which deals with the South African Airways Soc Limited (SAA) and its subsidiaries.
Van Rooyen highlighted paragraph 264 of the report stating that Dr Masimba Dahwa had testified that Van Rooyen explained that the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), wanted to conduct business with SAA and particularly with respect to two contracts, namely security provision and the Amadeus contract extension.
The letter went further to say that the paragraph in question concludes that Van Rooyen insisted that the two tenders be awarded to two particular companies related to MKMVA.
“We wish to put it on record that our instructions are that Mr Van Rooyen did not receive a rule 3.3 notice from the Commission in regard to the evidence of Dahwa, which implicated him,” the letter read.
It further said that neither Van Rooyen nor his attorneys at the Commission received any communication from the Commission in regard to the evidence of Dahwa and demanded the Commission withdraw its findings against him that are based on Dahwa’s evidence.
However, in a statement issued by the Commission on Monday, the Commission stated it did “nothing wrong”.
It said their response was “simple” and that Van Rooyen was served the Rule 3.3 notice in respect to Dahwa’s evidence.
“The notice and Dr Dahwa’s affidavit were emailed to Mr Van Rooyen’s email address which he still uses as his email address.
“Mr Des van Rooyen was served with a Rule 3.3. notice and he elected not to respond to the Rule 3.3 notice. The Commission has done nothing wrong,” read the Commission's statement.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
Political Bureau