Former presidents probed over BCL closure
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday March 24, 2025 14:42


During a press conference yesterday Boko also announced the start of a forensic audit into wider government spending covering the period between 2014 to 2024.
In announcing the BCL Commission, Boko said the probe would, amongst other things, establish the roles of former presidents if they had influenced anyone in the public sector in relation to the winding up of the BCL Group companies, liquidation processes related to the BCL companies and/ or the affairs of the BCL.
Boko said following the closure of the BCL, there have been a lot of complaints from those affected by the closure. He said the process of closing the mine, involving a judicial management and liquidation which took a lot of time and money, is still ongoing.
“We must establish if the process was proper (and) assess if the decision to close the mines were taken accordingly. Every decision must be reviewed, especially the one taken by senior leaders with extreme repercussions in people’s lives. Such decisions are not to be taken willy-nilly. To ensure we do not do that, we should be able to look back and check if they were rightly made. If so, were they also executed well,' he said.
To this end, he said using the Commission of Inquiry Act, he set up a Presidential Judicial Commission of Inquiry to Inquire into the winding up of BCL Limited and its subsidiaries including but not limited to BCL Investments, Tati Nickel Mining Company, the winding up process, the affairs of the insolvent as well as allegations of capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector including organs of state and State Owned Companies.
Boko further announced Malcolm Wallis, former Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, as the Commissioner alongside his team and the secretariat who will start the work in June.
The President said more information and terms of reference would be shared in the Government Gazette. He further called on all those who want to share any information to come forward.
Amongst the terms of reference, Boko pointed out one stating “The role of president. Inquire into whether any of the previous presidents has however influenced anyone in the public sector in relation to winding up of the BCL Group of companies, liquidation processes related to the BCL companies and or the affairs of the BCL,” he said.
Meanwhile, Boko announced that after satisfying himself that he had the powers, he took a decision to institute a forensic audit into past public spending. He said Section 47 of the Constitution gives him powers to sign Executive orders through which he does not even have to consult anyone. He however, was quick to point out that he did some consultations before signing the order for the forensic audit.
The President said the audit to be conducted by Alvarez & Marsal Holdings, LLC (A&M) at $4.2 million (About P62 Million), was necessitated by the fact that there were complaints in the past that certain things were not done according to the book.
“There is nothing wrong in suspecting that something was mismanagement of funds or corruption, however, it would be wrong for us to use these allegations to persecute and abuse others, but because we do not want for that to happen. “Hence we found it befitting to clear the air using skilled and experienced auditors,” he said.
A decision has been made today, 20th March, 2025 that a forensic audit with two phases, he said.
“The first thing they will do is to identify and assess corruption and fraud risks across ministries, departments, State Owned Enterprises, and regulatory oversight bodies. They will also develop a risk based forensic audit plan to audit government procurement and regulatory compliance on a prioritised and targeted basis. They will also provide a data driven tool to monitor and mitigate corruption risks overtime,” he said
He said the auditors will also develop and implement a project framework to oversee activities of the project and ensure alignment of the objectives and communication requirements. He said the first phase, which will take four weeks, will also include a comprehensive mapping of the mandate and operational and financial performance of the SOEs.
On the second phase expected to take nine months, Boko said the auditors would conduct evaluation and efficiency of all governance structures and practices within ministries, departments, SOEs, and regulatory authorities.
Boko said they will also assess the adequacy and effectiveness of systems, policies and procedures to prevent and detect fraud and corruption; uncover instances of financial mismanagement waste, fraud or corruption and determine their magnitude; identify responsible parties and provide evidence for potential legal and disciplinary actions; refer cases of fraud and corruption to special investigations unit; assess performance and effectiveness of oversight and regulatory authorities in their mandates; and propose solutions to identify gaps and design a mandate and structure for oversight and control functions.
Boko said the forensic report should provide a report with findings, evidence and recommendations or correcting action.