Probe into mystery sale of SA fuel stocks

ENERGY Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has instituted a forensic probe into the mysterious sale of South Africa’s fuel stocks last year and has also hinted that criminal charges may follow.

Kubayi was presenting the findings of a preliminary probe into controversial sale of the fuel stock to parliament’s portfolio committee on energy.

She said she could not make the report public as it could contaminate any criminal case.

Kubayi confirmed during her first week in office that millions of barrels of South Africa’s fuel reserves had been sold at bargain basement prices under questionable circumstances‚ costing the country billions of rands.

The transaction took place during the tenure of Kubayi’s predecessor‚ Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

But she assured the committee that the oil was still in South African tanks and had not yet been lifted by the buyers‚ as her department was trying to map out the way forward.

She said they were weighing up their legal options around the validity of the sale contracts.

The money, meanwhile‚ had been moved into a dollar-specific account.

She said the report gave an indication of one particular individual who had been chief executive, chief operating officer and general counsel at the same time‚ creating a situation where there were few checks and balances.

The EFF’s Mzingisi Dlamini and the DA’s Gordan Mackay questioned whether Joemat-Pettersson had misled parliament.

But Kubayi said she should be “given the benefit of the doubt” as it had only become clear after the investigation that the oil had been sold and not rotated. – TMG Digital/TimesLIVE