'I thought it was my credit card'

Sacked Business Against Crime boss blames a mix-up after R37 000 spree

THE managing director of Business Against Crime in the Western Cape has broken her silence after being sacked for an unauthorised credit card spending spree.

Dr Annelie Rabie parted ways with the crime-fighting organisation in June - about the same time she became a DA councillor in the hamlet of Prince Albert in the Great Karoo.

Rabie this week said she had merely "mixed up" her personal and business credit cards while shopping.

Business Against Crime (BAC) is a vehicle through which the country's business community fights crime and receives millions in donor funding.

Melvyn Joshua, the current chairman of Business against Crime in the province, saidRabie was fired after a disciplinary hearing found her guilty on five counts of unauthorised expenditure on the organisation's credit card, for about R37000.

The organisation and Rabie were tight-lipped about the items purchased. Joshua declined to say whether criminal charges would be laid as "certain processes need to be finalised".

Rabie, however, insisted she did nothing wrong.

"There were seven charges against me. Amongst them was that I used the credit card to pay for personal things. These were genuine mistakes that I reported as soon as I became aware of it. Another charge related to my membership fee for Madison's Who's Who, an American website. I don't know how they can deem this as unauthorised spending when it relates to my job as manager at BAC."

She said the money that was "mistakenly used - and I don't know how they got to the figure of R37 000" - was "paid back".

Joshua confirmed that Rabie said in her defence at the hearing that she got mixed up between her work and personal credit cards, but he said this was rejected by the presiding officer. He also confirmed that she had repaid ''some'' of the money, but only after an audit by BAC.

Rabie initially announced her intention to resign from the organisation in May. "It was my specific intention to move to Prince Albert to get involved in politics at the request of the community."

The organisation, however, refused to accept her resignation as its investigation into her conduct was under way. Said Joshua: "Rabie was suspended on May 9 2011 but tendered her resignation days later. We, however, elected to proceed with a formal disciplinary hearing as we believed we had an obligation to deal with this matter in a thorough and transparent manner.

"An independent hearing was held in June 2011 at the offices of [law firm] Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. She was found guilty of unauthorised expenditure and her services were terminated on June 17 2011.

"Our stance on crime makes it clear that we have to act whenever or wherever impropriety is suspected."

Rabie has a doctorate in administration and experience in the Integrated Criminal Justice Programme. She was appointed in 1999 and also ran a guest house in Gansbaai.

Four years ago she received the Order of the Disa from former Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool for the success of the body's crusade against crime.

"I intended leaving BAC at the end of June 2011. In April and May serious differences arose between certain members of the board and myself and I offered to resign," said Rabie.

"I was not found guilty of fraud or corruption. I did not 'inflate' my salary as was reported. There are no grounds for criminal charges against me."

Rabie was elected to the DA caucus in Prince Albert while on suspension.

Dr Graham Wright, CEO of Business Against Crime South Africa, said the organisation was concerned about the negative impact of the incident.

Theuns Botha, the provincial DA leader, said the party was conducting an internal investigation and would act according to the findings.