Loan Granted by the Government to the Office of the Facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO 128

PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNAL QUESTION PAER NO 3 OF 4 JUNE 2004

MR DHM GIBSON TO ASK THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

(1) What were the specific terms of the loan granted by the Government to the Office of the Facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue before the final plenary of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue at Sun City in April 2003;

(2) Whether the total cost of the loan used to purchase five S320 Mercedes Benz vehicles for the president and four vice presidents of the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of Congo at a cost of R2 840 000 has been recovered from the Office of the Facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue; if not,

(3) Whether the taxpayer will pay for these vehicles? N160E

REPLY:

(1) On 28 March 2003 an amount of R5 million was granted to the Office of the Facilitator for the final session of the Inter Congolese Dialogue (ICD) which took place at Sun City from 1 until 3 April 2003. The money was loaned to the Office of the Facilitator which was experiencing cash flow problems at the time, on the understanding that the money would be repaid.

(2) Yes. The Office of the Facilitator has repaid the money at the end of June 2004.

(3) No.