Mantashe said no to Krejcir's 'smelly' cash

The ANC turned up its nose at a generous donation from Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir, possibly because it was "smelling".

A set of damning affidavits that has become available for the first time, show how Krejcir tried to worm his way into the upper echelons of the ruling party in his murky bid for asylum in South Africa.

The documents detail how his henchmen disbursed a R1-million payment - something that has now put the spotlight on the involvement of a respected businesswoman, Brenda Madumise, and the ANC's Eric Xayiya as alleged middlemen in the matter.

Madumise, a qualified advocate who is a former chairwoman of Business Unity South Africa and sits on the board of PetroSA, admitted in a 2011 affidavit to having used the money "for my personal gain".

This was after they failed to assist Krejcir and he demanded his money back.

Xayiya, a former Gauteng MEC who is now special adviser to Gauteng premier David Makhura, said in his affidavit that he took Krejcir's offer of a donation for the ANC in 2009 to the party's secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe.

Mantashe, however, turned down the offer. He told the Sunday Times on Friday: "If a donation looks suspicious, I say no. If it's smelling, I don't even refer it to the treasurer, I say: 'Disappear.'"

The affidavits, made in 2011, also show how George Louka tried to help Krejcir's asylum case.

Louka was extradited from Cyprus earlier this year and will stand trial in January for the murder of strip club boss Lolly Jackson.

Xayiya, in his affidavit, said he met with Louka and a police crime intelligence officer in 2009 when they told him of Krejcir's dilemma.

Louka, acting as a middleman, told Xayiya that Krejcir wanted to donate to the ANC.

"I then indicated to him that I would report to the secretary-general on their contribution. It was rejected with contempt," Xayiya wrote.

He introduced Louka to Madumise and was present when Louka gave her a "bag of money, without her counting it".

However, when Louka later became impatient at the lack of progress, Xayiya said the Cypriot became "a bit violent and very arrogant".

On Friday, Xayiya said he never took money from Louka.

When asked why he got involved in what from the onset seemed like a questionable transaction, Xayiya said: "The SG [secretary-general] said that's a problem, we can't take money from such people. I went to them and told them the ANC doesn't want any money from them."

Madumise, however, said in her affidavit that she was supposed to pay a crime intelligence officer for the "introduction of a client to me".

When Louka and three cops later arrived at her home, demanding she return the money, she wrote them a cheque of R500 000 and returned R200 000 in cash. The balance, however, was a problem and she had her lawyer draw up an agreement to pay it back later.

Madumise wrote: "During the time I received hard cash, I never counted it, and managed to repay the money that I didn't count. I never used it for [the] asylum seeker, but I used it for my personal gain."

Asked about this on Friday, Madumise confirmed the incident but denied taking the money. "I was approached by people wanting to help Krejcir, but the money was never used."

When asked about her own affidavit, in which she said she had used it for "personal gain" she responded: "That's wrong, I was trying to protect certain people."

She refused to elaborate on who she was trying to protect.

Krejcir has been sentenced in absentia in his native Czech Republic and, since arriving in South Africa in 2007, has claimed that his life would be in danger should he be forced to return.

He has spent the past year in prison and is on trial on charges of kidnapping, assault and attempted murder.