Scopa to decide later on alleged justice cover-up

Parliament's standing committee on public accounts says it will only decide after the parliamentary recess if top justice officials must explain allegations involving their apparent cover-up of 840-million rand in under-expenditure. The officials reportedly hid the under-expenditure from parliament. Scopa chairperson Themba Godi told the Cape Times that it was only a political crime, because officials did not spend and did not deliver. The Scopa chairman could not say whether the allegations were in contravention of the Public Finance Management Act. A Sunday newspaper reported that top officials in the justice department doctored their books to hide the money they had failed to spend, and then misled parliament about their financial affairs.