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The Democratic Alliance (DA) will request an investigation into possible contradictions in the official declarations of interests of Deputy President Paul Mashatile about the diamond received from criminally-accused Louis Liebenberg.

While Mashatile yesterday, through his Office, attempted to side-step the serious allegation against him, his communication has both opened suspicion and a new avenue of investigation.

Mashatile’s claim that the diamond from Louis Liebenberg was given to his wife, contradicts the version of the whistleblower in this matter, in an unsigned affidavit of Hein Jooste filed in the State's case against Liebenberg.

The whistle-blower’s version is that at the Deputy President’s residence he was made to select a diamond for Mashatile. Not his wife.

The DA will pursue this serious allegation through two investigations.

The DA will write to the Secretary to Cabinet, Ms Phindile Baleni, to request that she launches an investigation within the Presidency about this gift, the declarations that the Deputy President made at the time, and the nature of the stone received.

The DA notes that if this stone is an uncut diamond, it would be illegal for the Deputy President to have possessed it, without holding a special license for this purpose.

The DA will also write to the acting Registrar of Parliament, requesting that the Deputy President’s declaration of gifts received be reviewed and interrogated by Parliament’s Ethics Committee.

Issued by George Michalakis MP - DA Chief Whip in Parliament