Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff made a brief appearance at the Bathong Travel liquidation inquiry in Cape Town on Tuesday.
She arrived at the Bellville magistrate's court with a lawyer in tow, in response to a subpoena from the liquidators of the estate who are seeking to recover millions of rands that went missing in the parliamentary travel voucher scam.
As she stepped into the witness stand, attorney for the liquidators Bernhard Kurz told presiding magistrate Mannie van Reenen that Marshoff had brought "certain information" with her, and that though the liquidators needed more, agreement had been reached on the way forward.
He said Marshoff would be given 14 days to provide the rest of the information, failing which she would appear again before the inquiry on July 26.
Marshoff was an African National Congress member of the National Assembly before taking on the post of premier last year.
Also called on Tuesday were former ANC MPs Sally Nqodi and Mietha Coetzee-Kasper, who were quizzed about their use of the parliamentary travel vouchers they were given for air, train or bus travel.
Nqodi told Kurz she gave both signed and unsigned vouchers to Bathong director Mpho Lebelo, but did not monitor their use.
"Really there was nothing causing any suspicions on my side that I had to monitor," she said. "I realise it was a mistake."
She said the signed vouchers were handed over for convenience in booking tickets, but failed to give a clear answer when Kurz asked why she also handed over unsigned ones, which would in any case have to be signed before they could be used to get tickets.
Kurz told Nqodi she would also be asked to account for R95 000 in refunds on tickets obtained on parliamentary vouchers but cancelled and never flown on.
He said Lebelo claimed the money was used to pay for non-parliamentary, travel expenses for Nqodi, her partner and friends.
Kurz quizzed Coetzee-Kasper on tickets worth R70 940 which he said were issued on her warrants, and paid for by Parliament, but on which no-one ever flew, and which were refunded.
Coetzee-Kasper said she did not know what happened to the money, but did recall that in mid-2002 she had been surprised to be told by Bathong that she had no vouchers left for the year.
"O Vader, wat nou nog (O Lord, what else now)," she sighed at one point, as Kurz pressed his questioning.
Kurz also on Tuesday recalled former Inkatha Freedom Party MP, Maxwell Sibiya, to question him about his relationship to a member of the National Council of Provinces secretariat, Tembelihle Majola.
Sibiya said he used to lend Majola money.
Kurz said Lebelo claimed that refunds from Sibiya's voucher-generated tickets were used to buy air tickets for Majola from Cape Town to Durban.
"We've got Voyager miles. We are free to do whatever we want with it," said Sibiya.
It has emerged at the inquiry that 63 MPs from various political parties have signed acknowledgements of debt totalling R1,45-million in the Bathong matter, and have already paid back R519 000. - Sapa