Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku here
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg will lodge a formal complaint with the Special Investigation Unit, with regards to reports revealing that over R1 billion in tenders were awarded to companies linked to current and former City of Johannesburg councillors.
This shocking report paints a grim picture of a city where public money is seemingly treated as a personal piggy bank by those elected to serve it. At a time when Joburg’s streets are crumbling, power outages are the norm, and basic service delivery is in freefall, it is unacceptable that councillors may be benefitting from a broken procurement system.
We cannot allow this culture of impunity to continue unchecked.
The DA had previously written to the Executive Mayor, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) & the Department of Public Service Administration (DPSA) calling for lifestyle audits into all heads of department, unfortunately these were all ignored. The Auditor General has now indicated the exact same concerns.
We are also engaging the Auditor-General and National Treasury, demanding a forensic audit into all tenders linked to officials and elected councillors, alongside their associates in the City of Johannesburg.
Our formal complaint with the SIU will ask for:
- Lifestyle audits for all councillors and officials involved;
- Suspension and investigation of any officials implicated in irregular or unethical contracts;
- Criminal charges to be laid where corruption is proven; and
- Public disclosure of all tenders awarded in the last three years for full transparency.
The fact that the DA needs to get national intervention, and that it isn’t the Executive Mayor doing so, only makes us all the more resolute – Dada Morero is unfit to govern a city as complex as Johannesburg and must be removed through a Motion of No Confidence (MoNC).
We will not rest until those responsible are held to account and the city is restored to honest, capable leadership. The DA will continue to be a voice for residents who are being let down by those who are supposed to serve them.