Minister quits, P.M. sacks judge as scandal engulfs S.A.

Press, 9 November 1978, Page 8

Minister quits, P.M. sacks judge as scandal engulfs S.A.

IXZPA-Reuter Johannesburg Twin bombshells of a Cabinet Minister’s resignation and the sacking of a judge have given the biggest jolt yet in a political scandal that has engulfed South Africa.

The resignation of the Minister of Plural (black) Affairs (Dr Connie Mulder) and the decision by the Prime Minister (Mr Pieter Botha) late on Tuesday night to halt the investigations by the judge who blew the whole affair into the open are likely to give fresh impetus to the furore. The Opposition leader (Mr Colin Eglin) said the resignation of Dr Mulder — sec-ond-ranking Minister in the Cabinet — was not the end of the story and demanded that investigations into allegations of misuse of Government money must get to the root of the matter. And the ending o.‘ the in-i quin T by Judge Anton Mostert, even though his one-! man probe into currency offences is to be replaced by a Parliamentary commission, could raise even more fundamental questions. Judge Mostert was appointed by the former Prime Minister, John Vorster, when the scandal first blew up. The judge's decision to make public evidence he had gathered on spending by the Government’s now disbanded Department of Information W’.s ptaised by both antiGovernment and pro-Govem-ment newspapers. For the judge issued his evidence in defiance of a request from the Prime Minister not to make it public, and in doing so was widely seen by commentators as upholding an independent Judiciary free of Government interference. At the heart of the storm were allegations made to Judge Mostert that 12 million rand (SI 4 million) had been provided by the Information Department to set up the pro-Govemment newspaper. the “Citizen,” as a counterbalance to the generally liberal Englisl press in South Africa. Dr Mulder, who was responsible for the Informa-

■ tion Depa. ment, was one of ; J those named as being inI volved. Announcing that he was i resigning as Minister for Plural Relations, Dr Mulder declared that he was in- ; nocent and said he was quitting to help Mr Botha “in repulsing this onslaught ■ against the National Party, the Government and the country.” He added, “I have no ; pangs of conscience about I the entire matter because everything I have done I did in the conviction that I was serving my country. South Africa, in the best way.” Dr Mulder said he was prepared to give evidence before a commission headed by Judge Rudolph Erasmus and appointed by Mr Botha to examine Information Depar* nent ..ffairs after Judge Mostert’s disclosures. The Erasmus Commission has been given a month to make its report to Parliament. The Information Departi ment came under Judge Mostert’s scrutiny, although l his investigation was into ■ contravention of currency regulations, because the funds for the “Citizen” were ■ said to have been channelled • Ithrough a Swiss company.

Previous allegations of misuse of Government money, w’hich led to the Information Department being broken up earlier this year, also said the department “laundered” funds for secret projects through Switzerland. But Judge Mostert’s disclosures plainly angered the Prime Minister, who said that a Parliamentary commission would take over the currency probe. “There is an evident and untenable difference between the Government’s point of view and the action taken by Judge Mostert,” said Mr Botha. However, the Parliai mentary probe will presumably also look at Information Department affairs. The Prime Minister added: “It is evident that because of Judge Mostert’s broader interpretation of his commission there could be overlapping and duplication between his commission and that of Judge Erasmus.” The dismissal of Judge Mostert has already come under fire. Vause Raw, leader of the tiny Opposition New Republic Party, said that “the dissolution of the Mostert Commission is an act of arrogance and defiance which strikes at the very roots of the independence of the Judiciary in South Africa.” On Dr Mulder’s decision. Mr Eglin, leader of the main Opposition group, the Progressive Federal Party, said: “Dr Mulder’s resignation is not the end of the story.” He said the investigations must go on, adding: “It is clear Dr Mulder is only one cog in a whole system of executive shadow deals and murky cover-ups. “For this reason it will take more than Dr Mulder’s resignation to restore the shattered bond of trust between the Government and the people.”