|
�Mangosuthu Buthelezi assisted Mawere get SA passport� FORMER South African Home Affairs Minister and the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Mr Mangosuthu Buthelezi, is alleged to have assisted embattled businessman Mutumwa Mawere to attain South African citizenship and obtain that country�s passport, it has emerged. It is understood that Mr Buthelezi, who was recently dropped by President Thabo Mbeki from his cabinet, assisted Mawere while he was still serving as a minister. The Zimbabwean businessman has been living in South Africa since 1995. The South African Home Affairs ministry is responsible for the granting of that country�s citizenship and passports. Mawere was arrested last week in South Africa on allegations of fraud involving more than US$18 million allegedly committed in Zimbabwe. He was granted a R50 000 bail, ordered to surrender his travel documents and to reside at his Bryanstan home in Johannesburg. He was further ordered not to leave Johannesburg without permission from Interpol and remanded to June 29. The businessman, however, denied externalising any money from Zimbabwe saying he has not been resident in the country for the past 15 years and that he held a South African passport. An official in the South African Home Affairs ministry, who spoke to The Sunday Mail on condition of anonymity, could only confirm that Mr Buthelezi had a hand in the "suspicious deal" that saw Mawere attaining South African citizenship and obtaining that country�s passport. "I can�t remember the exact dates because it�s a few years back now, but my former boss in suspicious circumstances assisted Mr Mawere to get South African citizenship. Why don�t you talk to the South African embassy there in Harare, they may assist you?" said the official. Efforts to get a comment from the South African embassy in Harare proved fruitless yesterday but on Friday the head of the security department at the embassy Mr Sean Mongale confirmed that Mawere holds dual citizenship. "It is true that Mawere is a citizen of South Africa but he never applied for the citizenship through here. We don�t know the circumstances under which he got it," said Mr Mongale. Mr Mongale said the embassy currently has an application by Mawere seeking permanent residence in South Africa, which is yet to be approved. Police in Harare wish to question the businessman on allegations that the State may have been prejudiced of more than $300 billion by African Associated Mines, in which the businessman has interests, through non-submission of foreign currency declaration forms and externalisation of foreign currency. The latest revelations about the alleged clandestine deal between Mr Buthelezi and Mawere are set to sent reverberations across the South African government as this case may just be a tip of an iceberg of how corrupt some of its departments could be. Mr Buthelezi was dropped from the new cabinet that was announced by President Mbeki soon after the SA leader was sworn in for his second and final term on April 27. President Mbeki retained most of his cabinet ministers and even included two members of the Inkatha Freedom Party as deputy ministers. The leader of the Zulu-dominated IFP was replaced as Home Affairs Minister by his former deputy, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqaqula. After his arrest in South Africa, Mawere attacked Reserve Bank governor Dr Gideon Gono for allegedly "displaying venom" and even blamed the governor for his arrest. This has incensed industrialists, economists and even the ordinary people who are saying why should it be fine for governors in other countries to demand discipline and transparency in money transfer but wrong for Dr Gono to demand the same standards in the country. "As Zimbabweans it�s time to get real. This is why we never grow. Now eternal experts from South Africa have confirmed that Trust Bank was being badly run but we couldn�t believe the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe when it said the same. Some people even said the governor was pursuing personal vendettas, but now the truth is coming out," said Albert Muzivi, an engineer with a local trucking company. A leading economist said: "The governor is now always guarded and can�t move freely simply because he has dared to bring sanity to what was becoming a casino economy. Is this the reward we want to give to our governor? Can�t people see how the economy is starting to tick?" The economist said some businessmen currently on the run from the country want people to believe that Dr Gono is being personal, but they are now busy setting up businesses in countries like South Africa, a clear sign that they know that they violated the law in Zimbabwe. Reports say the former boss at Trust Bank, Mr William Nyemba, has set up another financial outfit in South Africa named Pivot Capital. Other businessmen on the run from the law in Zimbabwe are understood to be doing the same. It is understood that despite claims that Dr Gono was pursuing personal vendettas, some of Mawere�s managers in Harare are contemplating jumping ship as the Mawere empire crumbles. The group chief executive of SMM Holdings (Private) Limited, a company owned by Mawere�s African Resources Limited, Hilary Munyati, is stepping down from the post in a few days� time after serving the company for nearly 11 years. Munyati, whose sudden departure has raised eyebrows, is being replaced from June 1 2004 by Charles Chipatiso. The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
