Question NW1078 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
04 May 2023 - NW1078
Matiase, Mr NS to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether she has been informed of the allegedly missing R41 million that the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) has detailed in a report submitted to King Misizulu; if not, (a) what is the position in this regard and (b) what are the reasons that she has not been informed when she has direct representatives on the ITB; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
No.
a) The amount of R41 million is reported to have been paid to Ingonyama Holdings, a company of Ingonyama Trust, through two firms of attorneys as well as directly. The Board has to obtain an explanation from the directors of Ingonyama Holdings on what has been achieved as a consequence of this amount being transferred to Ingonyama Holdings. A new Board has just been appointed and I will ask them to look into this matter.
b) The KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act does not empower the Minister to have direct representatives in the Board hence there are no direct representatives. I have however been informed by the Head of the Secretariat of Ingonyama Trust that the directors of Ingonyama Holdings do not accept that they are accountable to the Board. Their view is that they are only accountable to the Trustee hence they resisted attempts by the Board to establish the deliverables associated with the R41 million. The Board had decided in February 2022 to have a dedicated discussion on the relationship between the Board and Ingonyama Holdings, however, the matter had not been attended to at the time the previous Board’s term of office came to an end, which probably could have been the reason the matter was not timeously brought to the attention of the Minister.