Maimane lays charge against Chancellor House
Hitachi had set an example the ANC and its former investment arm Chancellor House needed to follow, Mmusi Maimane said.
|||Cape Town - Japanese conglomerate Hitachi had set an example South Africa’s ruling party and its former investment arm Chancellor House needed to follow, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Mmusi Maimane said on Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, all I am here to ask is that money must be recouped back from the [African National Congress] ANC,” said Maimane.
“Hitachi has set an example for them and I am hoping Chancellor House will follow. If they are serious about fighting corruption they will pay back the money, taxpayers’ money.”
Speaking outside of the Cape Town Central Police Station ahead of laying a criminal charge against Chancellor House, Maimane said the ANC had destroyed, through corrupt acts, an institution built by “great leaders” such as late former president Nelson Mandela.
The corrupt act Maimane referred to was the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announcement on Monday that it had charged Hitachi with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The example Maimane spoke of was Hitachi’s payment of $19 million in settlement fees.
It is alleged that Hitachi, whose African subsidiary had won the tender to provide national power utility Eskom with boilers for the Medupi and Kusile power plants, had “inaccurately recorded improper payments”.
Chancellor House was, until last year, the local empowerment partner of Hitachi Power Africa.
Also last year, the ANC divested from Chancellor House who the SEC called “a politically connected front company” whose deal with Hitachi held significant benefits for the ANC.
However, the ANC had since “categorically” denied its involvement in any transaction between Hitachi and Chancellor House.
It said it was committed to clean governance and would “study the outcome of the SEC matter and from that process identify appropriate lessons or actions, if any, to be taken”.
Maimane however was not satisfied with the ANC’s response to the SEC and moved ahead with laying the criminal charge under the Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act (Poca).
“We can’t — while international bodies are saying people are corrupt — simple say no there is no proof or evidence to that,” said Maimane.
“We saw it with the Fifa scandal so now we are proceeding with this particular matter and saying that the ANC must account because Chancellor House is at the forefront of the work that they do.”
Maimane added that he would approach the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to request her office investigate the matter.
Accompanying Maimane in laying the charge was the DA’s Natasha Mazzone.
“It is incredibly worrying for infrastructure going forward,” she said.
“There are problems linked to anyone else wanting to invest in South Africa as it creates an incredibly bad image for our country and it continues to kill our economy.”
Mazzone said if the matter was not dealt with immediately, the country would regress.
“Our economy will continue to suffer. South Africans will continue to suffer.”
ANA