- UDM leader Bantu Holomisa accused the Development Bank of Southern Africa of corruption, mismanagement and maladministration.
- Holomisa is questioning the fitness of Enoch Godongwana as chairperson of the bank, due to his political links with the ruling African National Congress.
- The DBSA said Holomisa's allegations are unfounded and would not stand up to scrutiny in the appropriate forums.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa has hit back at a series of corruption allegations levelled against it, by UDM leader Bantu Holomisa.
In a letter to parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in October, Holomisa alleged that the state-owned funder was hobbled by "maladministration, mismanagement and possible deep-rooted corruption" as well as alleging victimisation of board members.
He urged Scopa to probe the allegations, with a view to establishing a judicial commission of inquiry into the management of the company.
In a response to Holomisa's claims on Friday, DBSA expressed confidence that the allegations would not stand up to scrutiny when tested by the appropriate forums.
'Politically exposed'
In his letter dated 23 October, Holomisa took issue with the fitness of the head of the DBSA board, Enoch Godongwana, whom he called a "politically exposed person". Holomisa, among other things, questioned Godongwana's suitability for the job on the basis that the institution was turned "into his personal spaza shop".
Godongwana is a former public enterprises deputy minister and the currently ANC head of economic transformation.
DBSA stated that there were no policies preventing it from hiring a politically exposed person, and that Godongwana's appointment was approved by the minister of finance who manages the affairs of the bank. It said the criticism that Godongwana's political links made him unfit for the role of chairperson were "unfounded and misleading".
The bank plays a critical role in the funding of infrastructure in the country and the region, and this year extended post rescue commencement credit of R3.5 billion to SAA.
Holomisa's letter to Scopa also alleged maladministration relating to loans to three entities, with the debt amounting to over R400 million. Holomisa alleged the bank wrote off over R200 million and claimed board members who questioned this were targeted and victimised by the chairperson and senior DBSA executives, a claim that th development finance institution also rejected.
'Pattern of baseless accusations'
In its response, the bank said it was "actively pursing" the recovery of loans linked to the entities and the outstanding loan balances, adding that Holomisa had "shown a pattern of making baseless accusations and relying on hearsay".
Holomisa told Fin24 that he was not fazed by the DBSA's reaction to his letter, adding that the final authority on the matter would be Scopa.
"They have every right to reject it but it does not make it go away. The matter is now between us and Scopa. The people with authority now between us and DBSA is Scopa, they must go and reject those claims there.
"I am not going to accept anything they say," he added.
Holomisa is no stranger to raising allegations of maladministration in state-owned entities. In 2018 he wrote a letter about allegations of corruption at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and the allocation of funding to a group of companies that he said appeared to be favoured by the fund manager, due to their proximity to its former executives.
The companies, Lebashe Investments, Harith General Partners and Harith Managers, subsequently obtained a court order preventing him from making the allegations.
He later testified before a commission of inquiry into allegations of impropriety at the PIC.