News24 reports that two senior officials at the Polokwane Local Municipality in Limpopo have been suspended following a forensic report that detailed a litany of corruption.
According to the municipality, more officials implicated in the report will be subjected to "consequence management". The report, compiled by forensic firm Bowman-Gilfillan, was tabled at a recent council meeting and revealed how some senior officials were involved in corrupt activities. These included major irregularities with supply chain management processes and officials altering documents to hide inadequacies. Another issue related to irregularities in the appointment of a service provider for rapid bus transport, which could see the municipality losing R17.8 million due to prepayment for buses. There were also verified cases of malfeasance in water projects and numerous contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act. But, councillors were only allowed access to the summarised version of the report during a recent council meeting. Mayor John Mpe said while the report contained names of officials, "this does not mean they are guilty of wrongdoing". He stated that the report should not be seen as a witch hunt and the implicated officials had to go through the proper disciplinary processes to test the validity of the allegations.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Russel Molefe at News24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page