MPs converted travel allowances to cash – DA

The corrupt scheme, which involved travel agents and dozens of MPs, saw certain MPs commuting travel allowances into cash, he told Parliament. The cash was then used for any reason except travel, according to Gibson, who claims that as many as 200 MPs have been sued by liquidators ‘and have paid or else are paying’ with the hope of escaping prosecution. Gibson complained that ‘the people of SA do not know who these MPs are and why they incurred these debts’. He added that ‘two honourable Cabinet Ministers who are married to each other had to repay more than R300 000 to the liquidators’. Full Moneyweb report

He also decried the dearth of prosecutions, according to a report on the IoL site. He said it was surprising that four years into the Travelgate saga it had yet to be concluded, and about 20 MPs were still there after pleading guilty to charges of defrauding the people. The real surprise, though, was that the President, as leader of the ANC, had said nothing about crime in Parliament in his State of the Nation address, and had failed to act. ‘Surely the ANC considers that those among us who have stolen money from the people are not fit to be parliamentarians,’ Gibson is quoted as saying. He added: ‘I understand that a great deal more information has become available and I am surprised that no further prosecutions have yet been instituted. Perhaps they will be soon. Until we have cleared up every last crumb of doubt about Travelgate the smell will permeate this Parliament.’ Full report on the IoL site

Meanwhile, the Cape High Court has postponed until March 19 the travel voucher fraud case against six people. The court, says a report on the SABC News site, was to have heard argument this week in a defence application for a separation of the trials of MPs and travel agents. However, Judge President John Hlophe was told instead that Soraya Beukes, a travel agent, did not have a lawyer. Hlophe ordered that the Legal Aid Board (LAB) immediately appoint a lawyer for Beukes. It seemed likely that she would be represented by Jerome Parries, who is already acting on the instructions of the LAB for two other travel agents. Van Vuuren said the latest delay would affect the finalisation of the case. Full SABC News report