Probe Mawere de-specification: Chinamasa

Giving oral evidence before the Mines and Energy parliamentary portfolio committee on Monday on government’s expropriation of SMM and its subsidiaries, Chinamasa said government was justified in grabbing more than twenty companies with an estimated value of US$400 million from Mawere six years ago, because the businessman had allegedly bought the myriad companies with US$43million he allegedly siphoned from Shabanie Mashaba Mines Holdings.

Chinamasa told the portfolio committee that he was surprised when the ministry of Home Affairs despecified Mawere without consulting him, and even before an investigator’s report was out. Mawere who holds South African citizenship was specified in July 2004 after the government failed to extradite him on charges of externalisation a month earlier. Chinamasa said Mawere’s South Asbestos Sales did not remit money to SMM from export sales, money Chinamasa alleges Mawere pocketed.

He said SMM also owed government money.

Chinamasa said he wrote to Home Affairs to protest the despecification, but he had no authority to stop it because the adminstration of the Prevention of Corruption Act was transferred from his ministry to the Home Affairs ministry under terms of the global political agreement that gave birth to the GNU. He denied having an “emotional problem” with Mawere as alleged by one legislator. “The culpability of Mr Mwere has not been discharged,” Chinamasa said.

“In the interest of justice, it is necessary for an investigation to be carried out to determine whether the cancellation of the specification order in respect of Mr Mawere, was done in terms of of Section 6(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and based on findings of Mr Mawere’s investigator.” “There maybe need to enquire into the circumstances leading to the despecification of Mr Mawere and whether this was a result of the investigator’s recommendations,” Chinamasa told the portfolio committee.

Chinamasa added that the cancellation of the speicification order on Mawere has absolutely no effect on the reconstruction of SMM. Mawere appeared before the same portfolio committee two months ago to explain how government had used the Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act to takeover his SMM company.