Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Sello Seitlholo says the admission by Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala that about R13.8 million may have been lost to corruption across the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) may be a drop in the ocean.
He says there could be more money lost not only to government employees but to third parties.
This, after Zikalala revealed that through verifications, they discovered odd transactions on the EPWP-allocated budgets could have been lost to theft, undeserving beneficiaries, and corruption.
Seitlholo says it is disheartening that people who are being paid substantial amounts of salaries are taking from the poor.
“The response by the minister to suggest that if you go further to the pavement, that yes they have identified these particular corrupt activities, from these particular corrupt employees, but the fact that almost 14 million has been lost due to corruption. And yet there is absolutely no consequence management leaves much to be desired and backs a lot of questions more than answers.”
