TWENTY members of the South African Parliament appeared in court yesterday to face fraud charges for allegedly falsifying claims for travel expenses in a scam estimated to have cost Parliament £1.6 million.
A total of 23 members and seven travel agents have been accused of misusing travel vouchers, but three of the MPs failed to appear before Cape Town Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
The MPs appeared briefly before Judge Sammy Maku, who postponed the full hearing until June 8.
All but three of the MPs are from the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which said that it was committed to seeing the “law take its course without fear or favour”.
A lawyer for the seven travel agents alleged that the MPs were getting favourable treatment compared to his clients, who have had to post bail and were arrested rather than simply being told, like the lawmakers, to attend the hearing. The atmosphere in court was jovial. Most of the MPs, many of whom say that they were misled by unscrupulous travel agensts, laughed and joked as if they were at a party rally.
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Seventeen other MPs implicated in the scam are believed to have negotiated plea bargains.
The prosecution sought the delay, saying that it needed more time to complete its investigation.
“Further accused will be added over the next few weeks,” Jannie van Vuuren, the lead prosecutor, said.
The MPs allegedly colluded with travel agents to make false claims and inflate the price of air tickets to cover the costs of luxury car rentals and hotel accommodation.
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The main opposition Democratic Alliance has accused the ANC of negotiating special deals with the prosecuting authority to shield its members from arrest and prosecution.