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The community of the Sedibeng District Municipality will this afternoon march to the Hawks headquarters in Pretoria to hand over a memorandum, demanding the arrest of politicians and businessmen accused of hollowing out the council.
About 700 community members from different regions across Sedibeng were expected to be bussed in to Silverton where they would hand over the memorandum to senior Hawks officials.
Jacky Bophelong, one of the march’s organisers, said the people would be bussed in from Lesedi, Emfuleni and Midvaal local municipalities, which are under the jurisdiction of Sedibeng.
The Hawks are investigating cases of fraud, corruption, money laundering and maladministration in the awarding of multimillion-rand contracts at Emfuleni, Midvaal and Lesedi. Bophelong said the marchers would demand that the Hawks finalise the investigations currently under way and arrest all those who have been implicated in corruption.
“We will gather there with the belief that the plight of the people of Sedibeng will be taken seriously and with the urgency it deserves,” he said.
Emfuleni local municipality
Last year the Hawks had launched investigations into Emfuleni municipality following revelations by the Auditor-General, that the municipality had incurred unauthorised and irregular expenditure totalling R872 million during the 2016/2017 fiscal year.
The memorandum on Emfuleni reads: “The municipality uncovered serious cases of fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to over R872 million. Subsequent to that the municipality instituted forensic investigations to identify the responsible culprits. We also demand that the directorate investigates cases of money laundering and labour related cases. We are quite aware of a syndicate within the municipality that is hell-bent on ensuring that these cases do not see the light of the day. And that, as a result, no one should be held accountable for missing money.”
Last week City Press reported that forensic investigators in the council have uncovered that potential fraud, corruption and maladministration by officials and businesspeople in the awarding of five contracts totalling more than R300 million.
Five forensic reports from Comperio, a firm of forensic investigators uncovered how officials allegedly irregularly awarded and fraudulently extended security, fleet lease, cellphone and landfill sites management tenders in contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
“We are here to say you had time to investigate, and now is the time to act,” said the memorandum. Service delivery has completely collapsed at Emfuleni and the council was placed under administration in June last year.
Lesedi and Midvaal
The memorandum shows that in August last year Lesedi’s mayor Lerato Maloka pressed charges against officials who were suspected of fraud.
“A municipal official fraudulently directed the insurance pay due to the municipality into a private company; which is a direct disregard of legislation that guides the roles of the municipality and officials on such matters. The mentioned official instructed the insurer to direct a payment of R2.5 million that was due to the municipality to a private company.
“We also want a progress report on the case of illegal awarding of a security tender which costs the municipality more than R50 million a year,” reads the memorandum.
On Midvaal, the memorandum demanded that the Hawks take action on the jobs for cash scandal. Corporate services member of mayoral committee Amelia Tshukudu was suspended in March after accusations that she was involved in a cash-for-jobs scandal. The council’s deputy municipal manager Thom Peeters was placed on special leave after being accused of flouting human resource practices in the appointment of his staff.
The memorandum gives the Hawks two weeks to craft a comprehensive response to these demands and to subsequently share a plan of action for law enforcement.
Bophelong said speakers from different political parties and representatives from different municipalities would each be allowed to deliver short speeches.
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