Zondo commission to receive additional R75m
JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola says the Commission of inquiry into state capture will receive an additional R75 million to enable it to complete its work by the end of June.
Lamola made the announcement when he was responding to questions from the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on justice and correctional services. The announcement of the additional funding comes after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni indicated that National Treasury would not be allocating additional funds to the commisssion, and said that the commission should finish its work.
Addressing the committee yesterday, Lamola said his department wanted a situation in which the commission was able to complete its work.
“We have spent a lot of money so we can’t abruptly end the commission’s work. The commission has to end by giving us the report that the president must consider and the Cabinet and whole of government of South Africa in terms of its implementation,” he said.
Lamola said his department, the commission’s secretariat and National Treasury had continued engagements to help the commission finalise its work.
“I can confirm, chairperson that we have found an amount of R75m with the National Treasury. We have found each other to find R75m to help the commission towards the finalisation of its work.”
He, however, pointed out that the commission would have to finish its work by the end of June in accordance with the court order Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the chairperson of the commission, obtained from the North Gauteng High Court when the term of the commission was extended,
During the meeting, MPs noted very little had happened in terms of prosecutions resulting from evidence heard at the inquiry, despite amendments allowing the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority to access records at the inquiry before it issued its report.
National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi said the amendments to the commission’s regulations had yielded good results in the sense that there was certainly a lot more better communication.