A total of 38 criminal cases against municipal officials and 11 against Free State provincial civil servants are either being investigated, at the National Prosecuting Authority for decision or on the court roll.

The majority of these cases relate to Supply Chain Management processes that were not followed or tender deviations. This is according to an official parliamentary reply from the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele. Only 15 of these cases are currently before the courts, whilst the majority of cases are with the SAPS for investigation.

Supply Chain Management and tender processes are in place to prevent corruption. Violating these processes, therefore, has a direct negative impact on service delivery to the public and should never be tolerated.

The residents of the Free State have been suffering for too long under some of the worst service delivery conditions in the country and it is likely that these 49 civil servants are only the tip of the iceberg.

Although the DA welcomes the fact that these cases are receiving attention, we are yet to see successful prosecutions. Such success will go a long way in restoring confidence in our democratic processes and our criminal justice system. Nobody should be allowed to get away with corruption and theft of funds meant to benefit the public.

The DA will continue to monitor the progress in these cases through further parliamentary questions.

 

Issued by George Michalakis - DA Spokesperson for Security and Justice in the NCOP