Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Thembi Nkadimeng says the Hawks are investigating 26 councillors for corruption in their municipalities in various provinces.
However, she said some of the cases are already in court, with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) driving the prosecution of these councillors.
Municipalities have in the past been identified by the Auditor-General as a serious concern where procurement processes were flouted and there was no paper trail for work done.
Some of the senior officials are not qualified for their positions.
Irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure have been reported by the Auditor-General in municipal reports.
Nkadimeng said there were 26 councillors in different municipalities facing corruption charges. She said the 26 councillors were investigated in 29 matters.
The Hawks have been investigating these cases over the last four years.
“A total of 29 cases involving councillors are being investigated by the DPCI (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) as of September 5, 2023,” said Nkadimeng.
Nkadimeng, who was replying to a written parliamentary question from Gizelle Opperman of the Democratic Alliance (DA), said out of the 29 corruption cases faced by the 26 councillors, some were already in court and others awaiting the decision of the NPA to prosecute.
She said out of the 29 cases, 10 were still under investigation by the Hawks, 13 were already in court and on the last six cases were for the NPA to take a decision.
Nkadimeng said in KwaZulu-Natal eight councillors were charged with corruption, in the Western Cape also eight councillors faced corruption charges and in Mpumalanga four councillors were facing corruption charges.
In the North West only two councillors were charged.
In Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape only one councillor in each of these provinces was charged for corruption.
In Limpopo no councillor is under investigation for graft.
Politics