Home

R170 mln fraud and corruption claims rock OR Tambo Municipality

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape is facing fraud and corruption allegations amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown. R170 million was allegedly paid to a Bulk Water Service provider without any work having been done in exchange.

More than R4 million worth of invoices were allegedly submitted to the office of the municipal manager for signing off for work related to COVID-19 door-to-door awareness campaigns.

The municipal manager refused to sign the invoices and is said to have been suspended as a result.

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) have opened fraud and corruption charges against the municipality. DA’s regional chairperson Sithembiso Mabasa says there is no evidence of a door-to-door campaign.

“Not a single report that we can find that there has been a door-to-door that was conducted, so we suspect that there is an element of fraud and corruption. That is why we have opened this case today that these millions that we suspect that there is something fishy here; there must be an investigation and the investigation must get to the bottom of this.”

O R Tambo District Municipality Council Speaker, Xolile Nkompela, has admitted the municipality has problems with corruption.  Nkompela has confirmed the case has been reported.

“It’s plus-minus R168 million that we are busy dealing with and the matter has already been reported to the police and Hawks and I am told that they were already in our institution doing their work. We really appreciate their quick response and the council itself is not going to sit; it’s going to accelerate this process of rooting out the corruption.”

In the video below, the SIU explains efforts to ensure corruption-free tender processes amid COVID-19:

Author

MOST READ