Parliament welcomes raid at Lepelle Northern Water board offices

Cape Town - Parliament on Monday welcomed the raid by the Special investigating Unit (SIU) at the offices of Lepelle Northern Water board in Polokwane.

"The raid takes the investigation into alleged wrongdoing at the entity a step further towards finalisation," Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation portfolio committee chairperson Machwene Semenya said.

The raid was in connection to the multi-million Giyani water project, in which Lepelle Northern Water board acted as an agent for Water and Sanitation Department. 

Semenya said the raid was as accountability was essential, especially for the people of Giyani who were still without water despite massive investments in the project.

“All allegations of corruption must be investigated and concluded so that if there is any unlawful activity, adequate consequences are meted out.

"It is unacceptable that the project has not been concluded since its launch in 2014, which robs residents of much-needed water,” she said.

 According to Semenya, the death of a boy in a trench dug by a contractor earlier this year was testament to the gross disregard for human life that the delay has caused.

"The committee calls for the speedy finalisation of the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the alleged wrongdoing," she said.

Earlier, the DA MP Jacques Smalle welcomed the raid at the board‘s offices in Polokwane.

Smalle said his party believed that the SIU investigation was only the start of uncovering the corrupt rot in Limpopo.

“We further call on the SIU to publish their concluded reports and recommendations on municipalities and cases such as the Tubatse Land Deal and the VBS bank saga,” he said.

“Investigations that lead to arrests are only positive if they lead to successful prosecution and the DA now calls for priority prosecution of government corruption.

“The people of this province have had enough of grand-scale corruption by the ANC government and it is time they are brought to book,” he said.

Political Bureau