South African Police to probe heritage items auction
Published August 18th, 2006
The arts and culture department has foiled an attempt to auction national heritage items that “vividly illustrate” the transformation of the country from the presidencies of PW Botha to Nelson Mandela.
Arts and Culture minister Pallo Jordan said on Thursday that, through their National Archives branch and in conjunction with the police, they had “successfully” prevented the auctioning of the visitor’s books of the Presidential Office Residence, Mahlambandlovu.
According to Jordan, the visitor’s books were advertised in the Beeld newspaper on August 11 for auction in Centurion. “An investigation has been launched by the detective branch of SAPS in Lyttelton. The visitor’s books for the period 1979 to 1992 and from 1994 to 1996 were identified and are now in safe custody,” he said.
