Seven deep cleaning company accounts frozen in Gauteng

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) announced on Tuesday it had been granted a preservation order to freeze seven more accounts of service providers contracted by the Gauteng department of education to decontaminate schools in contracts that were awarded to the value of R431 million.

This is the second preservation order granted to the unit just weeks after 14 accounts of service providers were frozen last month.

“The SIU has been granted an order to freeze bank accounts of seven more companies with the sum of R22.4 million,” the unit said on Tuesday.

“The companies, together with over 200 others, were irregularly appointed by Gauteng education to sanitise schools for a whopping R431 million.”

The R22.4 million order is in addition to the R40.7 million preservation order granted last month in the Gauteng schools decontamination matter.

In addition to the 14 companies the Special Tribunal order prohibits Chachulani Group Investment Holdings, Muta Investment Holdings, Netvision Energy Savers, Psychin Consulting, Home Ground Trading 1105, Mpale Investments Holdings and Naledzi Investment Trust from touching the funds in the bank accounts.

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The SIU is investigating the department about R400 million spent on decontamination in just three months.  

There have been mounting calls for Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi to step down or to suspend executives in his department involved in the scandal.

Lesufi has been asked to suspend Gauteng department of education head of department Edward Mosuwe, CFO Johan van Coller and supply chain management chief director Samora Mhlophe.