Mkhwebane ‘looking forward’ to convictions following Free State asbestos arrests

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she was encouraged to see institutions taking action on the Free State asbestos audit contract, which her office had also recommended be probed by the police.

She said the move sent the message that “there will be consequences for unscrupulous conduct”.

“One of the stumbling blocks to uprooting corruption and related maladies is impunity,” said Mkhwebane in response to questions from News24.

“Sometimes we see people against whom we have made adverse findings being appointed to positions of responsibility even though the findings in question remain unchallenged in court. It’s almost like they are being rewarded.”

“This has a potential to demoralise those who are [involved] in the promotion of good governance and the provision of quality service delivery especially for grassroots communities.”

She commended the “atmosphere of collegiality” between institutions of state.

“When one has done its part in line with its powers and handed over the baton to the other, the latter institution must duly take the matter forward. Only then will people fully trust and believe in the system.

“We look forward to seeing those arrested and charged, convicted by the court. Only then will we fully see the fruit of our labour.”

On Thursday, the Directorate for Priority Crimes arrested the seventh person they were seeking after a round-up of three government officials and three business people on Wednesday.

They were due to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday to face 60 charges, the Hawks said.

Five businesses were implicated in the multi-agency swoop, which included the involvement of the Special Investigating Unit.

In a statement, the Hawks said the procurement was allegedly done in a “fraudulent and corrupt” manner via an old Gauteng provincial government contract to get the money from Treasury.

The case centered on R255 million paid in a project by the Free State department of human settlements to find out how many houses in the province still had roofs containing asbestos, a dangerous material in a domestic setting.

The job was sub-contracted and around 36,000 houses were audited at a cost of around R21 million.

The DA member of the provincial legislature who laid the complaint with the Public Protector, Leona Kleynhans, said the remainder of the money seemed to have been “wasted”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.