Former DA leader John Steenhuisen’s credit card controversy refuses to die down, with some in the party accusing its federal executive of shielding him by not ordering a specific audit.
The DA, which elected new leaders earlier this month, admitted that no audit was conducted on the use of the party’s credit card which led to a public spat with former member Dion George.
This was despite George having requested a proper reconciliation by auditors last year when he was still the party’s federal finance chairperson and having taken the card from Steenhuisen.
Their dispute, which played out in public, related to alleged missing receipts from the use of the party’s credit card given to the former party leader.
Spokesperson Karabo Khakhau told the Sunday Times that there was no agreement on ordering an audit on the card, following a spat which saw George resigning from the party.
I cannot recall the amount, but it was a very small amount, all of which was reconciled.
— DA spokesperson Karabo Khakhau
“FedEx never agreed on an audit. We agreed on an investigation of whether there was misappropriation of party funds. The investigation cleared John in this regard,” Khakhau said.
Some DA members raised concerns about the reconciliation being done by Glynnis Breytenbach, a lawyer by profession and “not a finance person”.
Another DA member jumped to Steenhuisen’s defence saying: “This was an issue only to those who do not like John.”
Asked how much was found to have been used by Steenhuisen for his own personal use, Khakhau said: “I cannot recall the amount, but it was a very small amount, all of which was reconciled.”
She said the issue was handled adequately and was now a closed chapter.
“All requisitions must be reconciled. Which is a standard rule and it is enforced and adhered to,” Khakhau said.
Approached for comment, George said it was “odd and problematic” that the party’s FedEx chose not to put the credit card through an audit.
“I write to the auditors to bring to their attention that the card had been taken away [from Steenhuisen], that it could not be reconciled and that there were expenses which were incurred for which the card was not intended,” George said.
He said as he left the party shortly thereafter he did not follow up on this, but expected that an audit would be conducted.
“If the party’s response is that this account was not audited, that is problematic and it’s off as you would think they would do that,” he said.
George said he did not want to speculate on why an audit was not done, “as one would expect a specific audit as this is donor income”.
He said “no proper reconciliation” had been done by auditors after he raised concerns with the use of the party credit card.
In January, Steenhuisen was cleared by the party following allegations of misappropriation of funds. The party also stated that there were transactions that were for personal use, but the money had been reimbursed.
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