PATRICIA de Lille told the arms procurement commission on Thursday she would not answer questions on the details of allegations made in the "De Lille dossier" as she did not have personal knowledge of them.
In her affidavit, Ms de Lille, the mayor of Cape Town, had asked the Seriti commission to investigate the allegations, saying that concerned African National Congress (ANC) MPs had given her the dossier.
She had an easy morning of testimony but found herself on the ropes during cross-examination, answering most questions by repeating: "I must emphasise that the De Lille dossier contains allegations which I believe that the government should investigate. I have never claimed that the allegations prove the guilt of any of the persons mentioned in the dossier."
Counsel for the Departments of Defence and Military Veterans, Jenny Cane SC, said it was important to identify exactly which procurement she was referring to when the dossier referred to the "Spanish bid". This was so the commission would know what it was investigating.
But Ms de Lille kept repeating that she had no personal knowledge of the allegations, a "mantra" that was "frankly unhelpful", said Ms Cane. Eventually, commission chairman Judge Willie Seriti intervened and asked Ms de Lille to answer the questions.
Ms Cane suggested that Ms de Lille had attributed the allegations in the dossier to a person called Bheki Jacobs or Hassan Solomon, referring to a media report. But after reading the report, Ms de Lille said it had not attributed the relevant statement — that Mr Jacobs was the main source for the De Lille dossier — to her.
Ms Cane put it to her that the weight to be attached to the allegations would depend on who had made them. She found it strange that ANC MPs would spell "Mbeki" wrong, pointing out the incorrect spelling in the dossier.
Mr Jacobs or Mr Solomon is the person former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein described in his book, After The Party, as having gone on "crazily to allege that the ANC was full of murderers, drug dealers and common criminals".
Marumo Moerane SC asked whether Ms de Lille knew that Mr Jacobs was "a well-known confidence trickster" and "a con-man of note". She replied that she did not.
Ms de Lille said a senior prosecutor, Frank Kahn SC, had told her the allegations in the dossier were worthy of investigation and that he had said as much to former justice minister Penuel Maduna.
Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. Picture: SUNDAY TIMES
PATRICIA de Lille told the arms procurement commission on Thursday she would not answer questions on the details of allegations made in the "De Lille dossier" as she did not have personal knowledge of them.
In her affidavit, Ms de Lille, the mayor of Cape Town, had asked the Seriti commission to investigate the allegations, saying that concerned African National Congress (ANC) MPs had given her the dossier.
She had an easy morning of testimony but found herself on the ropes during cross-examination, answering most questions by repeating: "I must emphasise that the De Lille dossier contains allegations which I believe that the government should investigate. I have never claimed that the allegations prove the guilt of any of the persons mentioned in the dossier."
Counsel for the Departments of Defence and Military Veterans, Jenny Cane SC, said it was important to identify exactly which procurement she was referring to when the dossier referred to the "Spanish bid". This was so the commission would know what it was investigating.
But Ms de Lille kept repeating that she had no personal knowledge of the allegations, a "mantra" that was "frankly unhelpful", said Ms Cane. Eventually, commission chairman Judge Willie Seriti intervened and asked Ms de Lille to answer the questions.
Ms Cane suggested that Ms de Lille had attributed the allegations in the dossier to a person called Bheki Jacobs or Hassan Solomon, referring to a media report. But after reading the report, Ms de Lille said it had not attributed the relevant statement — that Mr Jacobs was the main source for the De Lille dossier — to her.
Ms Cane put it to her that the weight to be attached to the allegations would depend on who had made them. She found it strange that ANC MPs would spell "Mbeki" wrong, pointing out the incorrect spelling in the dossier.
Mr Jacobs or Mr Solomon is the person former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein described in his book, After The Party, as having gone on "crazily to allege that the ANC was full of murderers, drug dealers and common criminals".
Marumo Moerane SC asked whether Ms de Lille knew that Mr Jacobs was "a well-known confidence trickster" and "a con-man of note". She replied that she did not.
Ms de Lille said a senior prosecutor, Frank Kahn SC, had told her the allegations in the dossier were worthy of investigation and that he had said as much to former justice minister Penuel Maduna.
Post a comment