CAPE TOWN - Three senior Cederberg municipal officials and the owner of a private company have been arrested and charged by the Western Cape Commercial Crime Investigation Unit over allegations of personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud and corruption.
Following their arrest on Friday, the accused appeared at the Clanwilliam Magistrate’s Court and were granted bail of R5 000, with strict conditions.
Police said the matter was postponed to March 1, 2022 “for the tracing of a further suspect and to have the matter transferred to the Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville”.
This after intensive investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in the municipality.
The SIU had initially raided the municipality’s offices in September last year attaching laptops and cellphones to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the procurement of PPE.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the arrests related to three PPE tenders that the SIU investigated at the municipality.
“Two of the tenders were awarded to the wife of a senior municipal official. The third tender was awarded to a friend of a municipal official where the service provider attempted to bribe an official from the Western Cape Local Government,” he said.
Mayor Ruben Richards confirmed the arrests. “On Friday, three senior officials in our administration and a representative of a service provider were arrested and charged on allegations of fraud and corruption linked to a PPE tender. The accused were granted bail.
“We place on record our intolerance for fraud and corruption. We will continue to assist our law enforcement agencies wherever we can to ensure that our municipality becomes an example of clean administration.
In the same breath we respect the rights of all persons to innocence until proven guilty,” he said.
An attorney representing the municipality, André Johnston, said they were still “in the dark” on what may have led to the arrests. “We don’t know enough yet to provide a constructive comment on the arrests or what may have led to the arrests.”
Johnston added that they were going to oppose transferring the case to the Bellville court. “It is the intention to transfer the matter to the Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville, but my intention is to oppose that. I don’t see the reason why the Clanwilliam Magistrate’s Court cannot deal with this matter. All the accused in the matter are from the Clanwilliam area and I presume the witnesses are from the area as well,” he said.
ANC West Coast regional secretary Neville Delport said: “We said we will work with the SIU in any investigation relating to PPEs. We don’t have the contents of the case. These officials are not related to any ANC structures or occupy any position in the ANC.”
Cape Times