The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the announcement, by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), that R23million in assets belonging to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Office of the Premier (OTP) Chief Financial Officer, Ziphathie Cibane, other staff and several business operators with ties to the Department have been seized.
The raids, which took place yesterday, come after charges were laid against them for fraud and corruption relating to a R24million catering tender. This amid claims that OTP staff, who worked in the supply chain management section, colluded and unlawfully co-operated with several service providers to manipulate the tender process.
The DA welcomes this move by the NPA. It is high time that those who are corrupt are brought to book. We also welcome any efforts by law enforcement aimed at starting to recover monies lost, particularly through money laundering by senior officials.
Today, we call on Premier Sihle Zikalala to play his role in the fight against corruption by ensuring;
• That the companies under investigation are immediately blacklisted from doing business with any provincial government departments, pending the outcome of the probe and;
• That all OTP staff who are under investigation are not redeployed to other areas of the provincial government, particularly into areas of supply chain.
It remains deeply concerning that the OTP, which is supposed to be an example of good governance, is consistently under a cloud of corruption allegations. There is no way that the Premier can talk with authority when it comes to clean governance if his own Department is rotten with corruption.
Given the apparent endemic corruption within the OTP, the Premier needs to take the portfolio committee into his confidence. Currently, accountability by provincial government departments to their portfolio committees is being side-lined.
The same lack of transparency applies to the outcomes of various probes into the province’s municipalities. This includes uMzimkhulu where, despite two years having passed, a damning report into alleged irregularities and corruption within the municipality is yet to be released by the provincial government.
If our province is to begin to overcome the scourge of corruption, then we must work together. This must start at the top with the Premier.
The DA remains committed to fighting for a corruption-free KZN, where money that is meant for the people is spent on the people, rather than only benefitting a select few.