English soundbite by DA MPL Kingsol Chabalala
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be filing criminal charges against officials and a service provider following the findings of a forensic investigation conducted into irregular procurement within Emfuleni’s Local Municipality’s fleet department.
The reports have revealed that millions of rands of tax payers’ money have been wasted as they were paid to a supplier who never delivered.
This was allowed by officials who allegedly falsely certified delivery and bypassed established Supply Chain Management procedures, improperly acting against protocol. This is a blatant abuse of public funds and yet another betrayal of trust.
According to the investigation, more than R16 million was ‘spent’ on trucks, graders and bakkies that failed to be delivered or were gotten through dubious means.
The report further implies that these senior officials signed off on invoices confirming delivery despite knowing full well that the vehicles had not been received.
Public money that is supposed to be used for service delivery for residents has instead been allegedly misused in a possible collusion between municipal officials and suppliers, for their own self-serving interests.
Additionally, we demand that the municipality act fast to retrieve money that has been lost.
The DA will continue to demand accountability and transparency to ensure that those responsible face the full consequences of the law and that residents are protected from further misuse of public funds.