Hawks not probing Pippie Kruger foundation

The Hawks would not investigate claims that money is being misappropriated from burn victim Pippie Kruger's foundation, Pippie se Gesiggie (Pippie's little face), it said on Saturday.

"The matter is closed and would no longer be investigated," spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said.

No further details were available.

Pippie sustained third-degree burns when a firelighter gel is believed to have exploded in her father's hands on New Year's Eve in 2011. She was two-years-old at the time.

In June 2012, Pippie underwent pioneering surgery in which her own cloned skin, grown in a US laboratory in Boston, was grafted onto her wounds.

Since then, the fund has also paid for the skin cultivation and transplant of Celiwe Maseko, 5, from Kagiso on Johannesburg's West Rand.

Last year, the Hawks said a probe was underway into claims that money was being misappropriated from the foundation.