SOUTH AFRICA – The African National Congress (ANC) has formally opened a criminal case against DA MP Dr Mark Burke, escalating allegations of fraud and financial criminality linked to his company, Kastelo. ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli announced the legal action, citing severe breaches of national financial laws uncovered during an ongoing South African Reserve Bank (SARB) investigation.
At the core of the dispute is a SARB inquiry that reportedly identified Kastelo’s alleged contravention of South Africa’s exchange control regulations. The transactions currently under scrutiny are valued at approximately four billion rand. Ntuli emphasized that these irregularities point to direct violations of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the National Credit Act, transforming what began as an administrative review into a matter requiring immediate law enforcement scrutiny.
The criminal complaint follows the ANC’s earlier push to bar Burke from parliamentary finance-related portfolios, specifically the portfolio committee on finance and appropriation. Ntuli revealed that the ANC had addressed a formal letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly outlining their concerns, copying the Democratic Alliance in the process. According to Ntuli, the DA’s swift decision to remove Burke from the committee implicitly acknowledged the party’s prior awareness of his involvement and the company’s alleged defaulting of the central bank.
In response to the unfolding situation, the Democratic Alliance previously stated that Burke’s removal from both the finance committee and the party’s broader finance cluster was a strictly precautionary measure. The party framed this move as necessary to prevent any perceived conflicts of interest while the SARB’s administrative process remains active.
When approached regarding the ANC’s new decision to pursue criminal charges against Burke, the DA declined to issue a comment. The party continues to maintain that the Reserve Bank’s investigative process must be allowed to conclude independently, stressing that no formal finding of personal wrongdoing has been established against the MP thus far.
