Karpoweship offer to buy government a game farm is brazen bribery
7 September 2023
Revelations that Karpowership is proposing to buy and donate a game farm to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in order to facilitate environmental approval for its gas-fired power plant, are straight out of the state capture playbook and a brazen violation of the law.
The DA is therefore calling on the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment – Barbara Creecy, to immediately cease further consideration of Karpowership’s application for environmental approval to moor its gas plant in Richards Bay. The open bribe to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has contaminated the application and rendered it unsuitable for further processing.
The obvious desperation by Karpowership to obtain environmental approval at all costs has exposed their willingness to break South Africa’s laws to get their way. Creecy must, under no circumstances, give in to this and must hold the line against corporate extortion.
In fact, under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 (the Act), Creecy is obliged to refer the issue to law enforcement authorities to ascertain whether there is prima facie evidence of corruption by Karpowership.