President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned those who have stolen from the state that their crimes will catch up with them, no matter who they are or what position they hold.
In his letter to the nation on Monday, President Ramaphosa says the Special Tribunal of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) he established in 2019 is one of the most effective weapons the country has to fight corruption.
He says the Special Tribunal, which adjudicates on matters that the SIU institutes for civil litigation after it has concluded its investigations, is aimed at speeding up legal processes and ensuring that stolen assets are recovered faster.
To date, the Tribunal has recovered around R8.6 billion from unlawful contracts.
President Ramaphosa says it is not sufficient that perpetrators of corruption are prosecuted, the money that they have stolen from citizens to provide basic services must be recovered.
The Special Tribunal allows the SIU to request the freezing of assets of those under suspicion to prevent further losses to the state.
It has also ordered contractors to return the profits they earned from the irregular contracts as in the case of the Beitbridge Border Fence contract.
President Ramaphosa says the tribunal has allowed money to be recovered from corrupt executives in State-Owned Enterprises and delayed the payment of their pension benefits pending the outcome of the SIU’s investigations.
