ID'S LANCE GREYLING WANTS ANC TO OPEN CHANCELLOR HOUSE'S BOOKS

‘Eskom billions just the tip of the iceberg,' says Greyling

ID Chief Whip Lance Greyling says he wants the ANC to open front company Chancellor House's books ‘to show us how many billions it is making from Government tenders, over and above the Eskom deal.

‘Chancellor House's stubborn refusal to divest its shares in Hitachi Power Africa, despite ANC Treasurer-General Mathews Phosa's most recent promise that it would do so, is probably due to the fact that they do not want to set a precedent,' Mr Greyling says.

‘The tentacles of this ANC front company stretch far and wide and it is clear that in terms of making money from Government contracts, the Eskom deal is just the tip of the iceberg.

‘The public has a right to know the full extent of Chancellor House's investments and whether there have been any irregularities in its obtaining of government tenders through its own efforts, or those of its subsidiaries,' says Greyling.

‘The ANC has created a monster in Chancellor House, which it now seems they are unable, or unwilling to bring under control.

‘All of the ANC's current statements around rooting out corruption and going after tenderpreneurs will mean nothing if it can't even take action against its own investment company, the most unethical of all,' Greyling says.

‘It is also becoming clear that the Nyandas and Malemas of this world are merely following ANC protocol by using their positions to make millions from Government contracts.

‘How far the ANC has come from its Mandela-era vision of good, clean governance - and all it ever says in response is that its behavior is not illegal,' says Greyling.

‘The fact that it is currently not illegal is due to the ANC's own stubborn refusal to establish any form of regulatory environment to govern the funding of political parties.'

Greyling says ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe's recent ‘speech to the media on what he called "economics 101" showed a complete disregard for ethics.'

Mantashe said - "The ANC has no stake in Hitachi, we invest in Chancellor House. Full stop. Where Chancellor House invests doesn't translate into ANC having a stake. Chancellor House may have a stake. That is economics 101."

‘Mantashe's statement shows his and his party's complete contempt for ethical governance. In fact, Mantashe needs to spend a lot more time philosophizing about ethics 101 than economics 101,' Greyling says.

‘If the ANC is serious about party funding regulations then it will now finally support the ID's proposal to establish an ad-hoc committee to develop legislation on this issue.'

Statement issued by the Independent Democrats, April 15 2010

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