Three senior Cederberg municipal officials, along with the owner of a private company, were arrested by the Western Cape Commercial Crime Investigation Unit over allegations of fraud and corruption relating to personal protective equipment (PPE).

The arrest follows a probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into PPE corruption at the Cederberg municipality.

In September last year the SIU raided the municipality's offices, attaching laptops and cellphones as part of their investigation into allegations of corruption and maladministration in the procurement of PPE.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told News24 the arrests were made by the commercial crime investigation unit in the Western Cape after a referral from the SIU.

"Two of the tenders were awarded to the wife of a senior municipal official, and the third tender was awarded to a friend of a municipal official where the service provider attempted to bribe an official from the Western Cape Local Government," he said. 

Mayor Ruben Richards confirmed the arrests of the officials. 

"We place on record our intolerance for fraud and corruption and will continue to assist our law enforcement agencies wherever we can to ensure that our Municipality becomes an example of clean administration.

"In the same breath we respect the rights of all persons to innocence until proven guilty," Richards said. 

Police spokesperson Colonel André Traut said the four suspects, aged between 44 and 66, briefly appeared in the Clanwilliam Magistrate's Court, where they were granted R5 000 bail, with strict conditions.

"This office can confirm the arrest of three employees of the Cederberg Municipality on Friday by the Provincial Commercial Crime Unit on charges relating to PPE fraud and corruption," he said. 

Police said the matter was remanded until March next year for the tracing of a further suspect and for the case to be transferred to the Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville.