Probe into dubious ICD lease underway
2011-11-17 19:01
Cape Town - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's office has started its probe into the ICD's lease deal with controversial businessman Roux Shabangu.
"It [the investigation] has started today [Thursday]," Madonsela's spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi said on Thursday.
Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard asked Madonsela on November 2 to investigate after the Independent Complaints Directorate briefed Parliament's police portfolio committee.
It was revealed then that the cost of renting the building was not only outside the ICD's budget, but the premises was too large for the ICD's requirements.
In a statement on Thursday, Kohler Barnard said: "As with the SA Police Service lease deal scandal in which Mr Shabangu was implicated, the rent for the ICD's premises is reportedly grossly inflated.
"The department of public works recommended that the ICD sign a R880 000 a month lease for a property owned by Shabangu's company to house its Pretoria headquarters."
This was double the cost of the monthly rental for the building initially proposed by the ICD, which would have cost just under R420 000 a month, Kohler Barnard said.
- SAPA
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Probe-into-dubious-ICD-lease-underway-20111117
