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13 November 2008

The Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests at its meeting today resolved that Minister BMN Balfour, Member of Parliament had not breached Parliament's Code of Ethics.

The committee took this decision following thorough investigation it had conducted into a formal complaint that Minister Balfour had received a benefit to which he was not entitled viz. that:

1. Kgwerano, a company associated to Bosasa (a major contractor to the Department of Correctional Services) had paid for the Minister's personal motor vehicle, a VW Toureg 5.0, effectively providing the Minister with a gift.
2. The Minister had failed to declare this gift or payment by Kgwerano as required by Parliament's Code of Ethics and the provision of the Executive Members' Ethics Act.

The committee considered the information provided by the complainant, the response by the Minister Balfour, supporting documents supplied by Wesbank and the Department of Transport amongst others.

After a thorough investigation the Committee found that:

a. Kgwerano Financial Services (Pty) Ltd., which is linked with Bosasa, and Kgwerano Asset Finance, which is a division of Wesbank are two separate entities that are in no way linked to one another.
b. Minister Balfour entered into a formal lease agreement with Kgwerano Asset Finance for the lease of a new Volkswagen Toureg motor vehicle in February 2006.
c. In October/November 2007 the account was reloaded to extend the contract term at the request of Minister Balfour, leading to the allocation of a new contract number but with the original certificate of registration for the motor vehicle.
d. Wesbank have drawn regular monthly instalments from Minister Balfour's personal bank account as payment towards the Toureg.
e. No cash payment was received by Wesbank as settlement of this account.

In the light of the above, the committee found that the allegation that the Minister received a gift in respect of the motor vehicle was not substantiated; consequently there is no breach of the code.

The Joint Committee's decision was unanimous.

Enquiries:
Luwellyn Landers
Chair: Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests
Cell: 083 463 4789

Issued by: Parliament of South Africa
13 November 2008
Source: Parliament of South Africa (http://www.parliament.gov.za)