Legal Services to probe DBSA loans

Parliament’s Scopa has resolved to hold an inquiry into allegations of corruption, fraud and maladministration at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), following allegations raised in Parliament late in 2020 by UDM leader Bantu Holomisa. A Business Day report says at the heart of issues raised by Holomisa is alleged mismanagement and maladministration of three loans that the DBSA extended to three entities: Blue Horizon Investments 11 (BH 11), which was granted a loan to develop the Ledibeng Eco Estate in Lephalale; Moeparutsi Properties; and Proline Trading 60, all of which evidently form part of Cranbrook Property Projects. Holomisa alleged that the total outstanding loans stood at R426m, including accumulated interest, and there is no evidence of any repayments since disbursing the loans in the mid-2000s, apart from a partial repayment on the BH 11 loan. After a meeting with DBSA representatives yesterday, Scopa chair Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the committee will consult Parliament’s Legal Services on the process to follow as it begins to probe the bank. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said the matters must be ‘ventilated openly ... so that we can leave this meeting with a view that the DBSA is well run and well managed. Where there are faults we should seek to correct them’.