Acting Chief Justice and chair of the state capture commission Raymond Zondo. Picture: Karen Sandison/African News Agency
Limpopo municipalities which invested funds in the ill-fated VBS Mutual Bank last year have been invited to testify at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
An ANC provincial executive committee member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “According to the invite, the affected municipalities are expected to convince the commission on how they plan to root out corruption in their municipalities.”
The commission also wanted the municipalities to present their turnaround strategies for curbing corruption in supply chain management.
“This is because a lot of corruption happens in the awarding of tenders and in the deployment of cadres in senior municipal positions.”
ANC provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane also confirmed that several Limpopo municipalities had been invited to testify at the inquiry.
“Not only municipalities that invested in VBS, but also those which are a suspect of wrongdoing,” said Lekganyane. He rebuked some municipalities for “trying to conceal the matter”.
He said: “It is wrong because municipalities are organs of state under the tutelage of the ANC-led government.
“It would only be proper for all those invited to the commission to furnish because those mayors and managers leading municipalities are ANC deployees.”
He praised the management and leadership of Fetakgomo Tubatse municipality, the only one in Limpopo which had forwarded the invitation to the ANC provincial leadership for perusal.
Greater Tzaneen municipality mayor Maripe Mangena, whose municipality did not invest in VBS, said the council would comply with the commission’s demands, in spite of the fact that “we did not invest in VBS and we know not of any corruption in our chamber”.
Nine Limpopo municipalities are known to have invested over R1.2 billion into the collapsed VBS Bank without following the Municipal Finance Management Act.
– alexm@citizen.co.za
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