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Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance said on Friday that it plans to raise the question of the ANC's funding front company, Chancellor House, benefiting from government contracts and business rights.
Donald Lee, the party's spokesperson, said that the company is run by key ANC officials - including the party treasurer Mendi Msimang - and is now reported to benefit from a R20bn Eskom contract.
"(The report) should serve as a grave warning to the citizens of South Africa that the ruling party will stop at nothing to fasten its grip on power by exploiting public funds for party political gain," Lee said.
As soon as Parliament re-opens next year, he said, the Democratic Alliance will submit a range of questions to a number of government departments to find out to what extent Chancellor House has benefited from government contracts and business rights.
The DA will also investigate the possibility of changing the law to define clearly the extent to which political parties may become involved with corporate entities.
Lee added that Chancellor House already has interests in a number of sectors, spanning energy, information technology, mining, logistics and engineering.
In addition to the R20bn Eskom contract for the Medupi power station project's steam generators, Chancellor House has reportedly, through a number of other joint ventures, also pursued other government tenders and business rights opportunities.
Lee cited software tenders for the South African Revenue Service's tax and customs modernisation project worth R500m, information technology services contracts with the State Information Technology Agency and the departments of minerals and energy, trade and industry and justice and constitutional development.
He also listed new-order gold prospecting rights covering almost 80 000 hectares in the Witwatersrand Basin and providing government-licensed custom warehouse facilities, as well as a R34m contract to supply equipment to another Eskom power station.
"If this situation is left to continue," Lee said, "the ANC will become a monster of vested interests that will drive its leadership rather than the other way around.
"Short-sighted opportunists in the ANC leadership may rise and be devoured by such a headless monster, but ultimately it will be the fair-minded South Africans that value justice and freedom that will suffer the greatest loss."
- I-Net Bridge