South Africa's parliament will look into allegations that 11 million rand (Dh6 million) of state oil company funds were diverted to the African National Congress party ahead of elections in 2004, an official said yesterday.
Parliament's Mineral and Energy Portfolio Committee will investigate a newspaper report that a privately-owned company transferred money it received from state firm PetroSA to the African National Congress (ANC) in the run-up to the vote.
"The committee has said it will call PetroSA to appear before it on this matter in September," parliament spokesman Luphumzo Kebeni said.
The South African weekly which carried the report two weeks ago, the Mail and Guardian, dubbed the case Oilgate.
It said PetroSA paid the 11 million rands to Imvume, a private company also active in the sector, as payment for oil.
When Imvume did not pay its own suppliers to secure delivery of the oil, PetroSA was forced to provide more money to get the supplies it needed, the report said.
Kebeni said he did not know if Imvume or the ANC would also be asked to appear before the committee.
The conviction on Thursday of Vice-President Jacob Zuma's former financial adviser for fraud, a string of arrests of MPs accused of fiddling their travel expenses, and numerous accusations of fraud in local government have put corruption at the centre of South Africa's political agenda in recent weeks.
"We will appear before the committee and answer questions," said PetroSA spokesman Nhlanhla Ngwenya. "We are open to the media to answer questions. But in this case, the facts do get in the way of a good story."
