The DA will today hand over a series of documents to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) following explosive claims (view here) of wide-spread fraud and corruption within KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) under MEC Siboniso Duma.
The claims – by several whistleblowers within the department – include allegations that EDTEA and some entities are barely functioning as a result of money being siphoned by high-ranking senior officials for their own personal use. The department has been described as a ticking time bomb that will soon be brought to its knees.
The allegations –supported by documents – include:
• Millions of Rands being siphoned from departmental programmes and spent on personal luxury items and entertainment
• Funding – supposedly for billboards in the province – being spent on expensive gifts, paid for in cash
• Funding being moved from programmes to cover the R28 million SAMA Awards and runaway expenditure on the event in defiance of Treasury’s cost-cutting instruction.
While the DA acknowledges that the information received is based on allegations, the contents are staggering and warrant intense scrutiny by the SIU.
The fact that the spotlight has fallen on EDTEA is particularly alarming given MEC Duma’s role as leader of government business in KZN. If anything, he should be setting an example when it comes to good governance.
This means effective spending of taxpayers’ money particularly given that this department is supposed to be the economic and job creation driver in our province. It also means ensuring that the service delivery so desperately needed in our province takes place.
Evidence of failure by the MEC and his department can already be found in the Auditor-General’s report on Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) which, by all accounts is now beyond repair. This after 10 years of turnaround strategies and political appointments to the board have yielded no result.
The whistleblowers documents also include a request that the appointment of several senior officials within the department be probed. This, as a result of their close ties with the MEC and, in some cases, without due process allegedly being followed. There is also a request that EDTEA’s Operation Vula Fund be probed for possible extortion.
The claims of fraud and corruption also extend to Tourism KZN (TKZN) with allegations that the Acting CEO was suspended to make way for others to continue siphoning funds from the entity. The situation is allegedly aggravated by the ongoing failure to fill senior management posts, which has led to SCM not being adhered to.
The entity is also supposedly the scene of questionable appointments and mistreatment and victimisation of staff. The TKZN board also comes under fire for its alleged use of agencies to pay for entertainment and siphon money from the entity.
Regrettably, history has shown how the ANC government re-channels money for service delivery into its election campaigns. In the case of KZN’s EDTEA department, this must now be ruled out by way of an independent investigation.
In 2024, when the DA forms part of a new government in KZN, we will ensure that a capable state is built – one where money is spent on its intended purpose and where there is full accountability and consequence management.