Corruption probe into Castle board
Allegations of mismanagement at the heritage site have surfaced
MANAGEMENT at the Castle of Good Hope will launch an investigation into serious allegations of corruption and maladministration, “to separate fact from fiction”.
DA MP and spokesperson on Defence Shahid Esau forwarded a report detailing the allegations to Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe MapisaNqakula and Secretary of Defence Dr Sam Gulube. Esau has requested an urgent forensic investigation into the board of the Castle of the Good Hope following allegations of corruption.
But Calvyn Gilfellan, chief executive officer of the Castle of Good Hope, said he received information in bits and pieces from staffers. He was also not aware of the letter sent to the defence ministry.
“We are committed to good corporate governance and we have achieved this by scoring two clean audits consecutively.
“We always welcome criticism, but it has to be of a constructive nature. We will do our investigations and separate the facts from fiction. I must also say that many of the allegations are foreign to me because we were never consulted.”
Esau said: “It is disheartening that such a historical monument has been possibly plagued by corruption due to gross mismanagement at its highest levels.”
According to Esau, a range of serious allegations have been made concerning the facility, including financial irregularities
These included R3 million spent on maintenance after R110m had already been spent on refurbishing, procurement corruption including the awarding of a R5m tender to a service provider who did not meet the mandatory requirements, dereliction of duty in particular by senior management, the theft of priceless artefacts from the Chinese government exhibition and irregular labour practices and victimisation of employees.
“This historic entity falls directly under the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans and Minister MapisaNqakula should ensure a thorough investigation is conducted. To this end, the DA has provided the portfolio committee with the dossier and will demand a full forensic audit of the heritage site.”
Gilfellan, however, said: “At no stage did the member of the National Assembly speak to us while he was doing oversight. The so-called allegations were discussed with staffers who could not respond to the allegations. The members of the oversight committee have access to the ministry and the Castle of Good Hope board where they can lodge complaints.”
Efforts to contact Mapisa-Nqakula’s spokesperson, Joy Peter, failed.