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Ratlou Municipality plans to table SIU report on allegations of fraud and corruption

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The Ratlou Municipal authorities have made a commitment that a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report into allegations of fraud and corruption within the municipality will be tabled before the council for deliberation and implementation.

The commitment was made during a meeting with the MEC for Local Government, Lena Miga in Mahikeng in the North West. This was after some members of the council schemed with implicated officials to avoid the adoption of the report.

The SIU probed allegations of fraud and corruption in the awarding of the Personal Protective Equipment tender.

The damning SIU report at the Ratlou Municipality has revealed that over R26 million was misused on tenders relating to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE ).

Elements of price-fixing were reported, while supply chain processes were flawed. The report fingered the municipal manager and other senior officials.

Since the report was tabled last year, it has not been able to be discussed and adopted by the council.  This is reportedly, as some African National Congress (ANC) councillors from the previous council, allegedly connived with implicated officials to ensure the council does not sit to adopt the report.

However, the MEC for Local Government, Lena Miga, has now re-submitted the report to the new council.

“We met with the Troika leadership of the municipality and the executive committee of the municipality including the municipal accounts committee wherein we were re-submitting the report on SIU presenting it to them and have directed them that this report should serve in the next sitting of council for consideration. Council should therefore find to implement the findings.”

Miga says she is optimistic that, the new council will finally consider the report for full implementation.

“I must indicate that we are very thankful that the mayor of Ratlou Local Municipality indicated and committed that indeed in their next sitting of council they will consider the report and they will ensure that, the report gets to be implemented.”

Among  the recommendations of the SIU report, is that action be taken against implicated officials and that, criminal cases be pursued against them.

Meanwhile SABC NEWS has reliably learnt that a council meeting for Ratlou municipality will be convened on the 28th of February.

Video: The SIU says 62% of the contracts it has so far investigated have been found to be irregular

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