Johannesburg - Nehawu has called on the ruling party in Gauteng to fire its chief whip, Brian Hlongwa, following accusations of fraud and corruption against him.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union in Gauteng became one of the first structures in the ANC alliance to break ranks and demand the removal of Hlongwa from the Gauteng legislature.
Their call came after the National Prosecuting Authority applied to the South Gauteng High Court in Joburg last Monday to have Hlongwa’s R7.2 million Bryanston house seized and some companies linked to him forfeited to the State.
It is alleged that Hlongwa, along with UK citizen Richard Payne, through his company 3P as well as other people mentioned in court papers, conducted illegal procurement processes which resulted in the Gauteng provincial government suffering losses of more than R1.4 billion.
Hlongwa and Payne were fingered as the ringleaders.
The two have until the end of next week to give their reasons to oppose the applications.
Due to the allegations against Hlongwa, Nehawu provincial secretary Tshepo Mokgeranyana said his union has called on law enforcement agencies to “leave no stone unturned in their investigation of corruption in the provincial Health Department”.
He said Nehawu welcomed the investigation of the billion-rand tender scandal in the Gauteng Health Department.
Mokgeranyana also called for implicated officials and leaders to be held accountable for their roles.
“We are disturbed by some of the revelations because they show the level of rot and the source of the crisis that has engulfed the provincial department for years.
“This has not only wasted scarce resources and derailed service delivery, but has cost people their lives.
“The department says it is unable to pay service providers performance bonuses and fill all the vacant posts.”
The Star