Johannesburg: A South African politician bought a painting with government money by masking it as a McDonald's purchase equivalent to 256 burger meals, the company said on Monday.
McDonalds in a statement confirmed a report in The Star newspaper that Humphrey Mmemezi, an executive of the ruling African National Congress, last year ran a 10,000-rand ($1,200) bill on the credit card at one of the company's restaurants in Pretoria.
But the funds made their way out of the McDonald's account, into another account and finally to an art gallery in Johannesburg, the Star said.
The fast food giant said the owner-operator "was empathetic to the needs of a friend, the artist" by offering him to use his restaurant's credit card facility to process the transaction.
"In hindsight, the owner-operator agrees that this was an innocent error of judgment," said McDonald's. Mmemezi is the Gauteng provincial housing minister.
The opposition has asked the former anti-apartheid activist to explain the transaction. He is yet to do so, according to the paper.
McDonalds in a statement confirmed a report in The Star newspaper that Humphrey Mmemezi, an executive of the ruling African National Congress, last year ran a 10,000-rand ($1,200) bill on the credit card at one of the company's restaurants in Pretoria.
But the funds made their way out of the McDonald's account, into another account and finally to an art gallery in Johannesburg, the Star said.
The fast food giant said the owner-operator "was empathetic to the needs of a friend, the artist" by offering him to use his restaurant's credit card facility to process the transaction.
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"In hindsight, the owner-operator agrees that this was an innocent error of judgment," said McDonald's. Mmemezi is the Gauteng provincial housing minister.
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The opposition has asked the former anti-apartheid activist to explain the transaction. He is yet to do so, according to the paper.
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