LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

The astounding decision of Mr. Joseph Agliotti to pay back R4,954,692 of the R7,500,000 he received from the State for land needed for extensions to Jan Smuts Airport will be raised by the Leader of the Opposition, Sir De Villiers Graaff, in the debate on the Prime Minister’s vote. Today Sir De Villiers praised the Sunday Times for bringing the Agliotti affair to the public’s notice: “The Sunday Times, by its timely and accurate reporting of the land transaction between the Government and Mr. Agliotti — which the United Party was able to follow up — sparked off an investigation which, so far, has resulted in the pending refund of nearly R5-million of taxpayers’ money.” — September 6 1970

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

The man appointed to investigate waste and inefficiency in two parastatal corporations has been paid more thaPn R1-million for just two months’ of work. Eugene Nyati was paid R15,000 a day to sit as deputy chairman on a commission of inquiry appointed by the Mpumalanga government in June. By August he had received R1.23-million. The chairman of the commission, Ntsoaki Mohapi, also received R15,000 for every day she served on the commission — a total of R324,000. Mr Nyati, an economic and political consultant from Johannesburg, is living in the Pine Lake Sun, the highest grade hotel near Nelspruit, at a cost of about R500 a night. — September 3 1995