Durban - A forensic report on corruption in eThekwini municipality has been released to 11 media and civil society institutions, a KwaZulu-Natal official said on Tuesday.
The 7000 page document, including annexures, was handed to the first group which successfully applied to see it under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, said co-operative governance spokesman Lennox Mabaso.
"We are pleased that the public can now make their own judgements as to the commitment of this government to... the promotion of clean governance, and the public will no longer be misled by petty politicking into thinking that the government is not transparent about its affairs," he said.
KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance MEC Nomusa Dube released an abridged version of the report in February.
The probe was instituted after auditor general Terence Nombembe said in his 2009/10 report that the municipality had irregularly spent R532 million. It found that 10 councillors had business interests with entities which conducted business with the eThekwini municipality.
Opposition parties criticised the city when it did not release the full contents of the report last July. Democratic Alliance eThekwini caucus leader Zwakele Mncwango said its lawyers would study the report to establish if criminal charges could be laid, and make recommendations to ensure accountability and clean governance in the municipality.
Mabaso said on Tuesday: "We want to make it abundantly clear that at no point has the government harboured any intention to throw a veil of secrecy over the report or to release a watered down version of the report."
Anyone who wanted access to it could also apply to the head of the co-operative governance and traditional affairs department, Mabaso said.
"We are pleased that the public can now make their own judgments as to the commitment of this government to... the promotion of clean governance, and the public will no longer be misled by petty politicking into thinking that the government is not transparent about its affairs." - Sapa