Seven more alleged corrupt licensing department officials were arrested on 26 January.
According to the City, 72 officials have been suspended in the City of Johannesburg.
Now, seven are facing charges of fraud and corruption in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court after their arrests. This after investigations were conducted by the City’s anti-corruption unit, headed up by General Shadrack Sibiya.
Four of the suspects are from the Martindale Bulk Licensing Department, while the other three are from the Langlaagte Licensing Department.
“This brings the total number of licensing centre officials arrested to date to 15, with the remaining identified in the forensic report to be arrested in coming weeks,” said Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba.
“We have also acted swiftly in ensuring that 72 of the allegedly corrupt licensing centre officials are suspended from their jobs. All 72 officials were given an opportunity to provide reasons as to why they should not be suspended, however, their reasons were found to be unsatisfactory. We hope to conduct the disciplinary hearings as soon as possible.”
Mashaba said due legal processes in the matter would be followed at all times.
Between January 2008 and February last year, 972 alleged fraudulent transactions totalling more than R14 million were identified within the City.
“I would like to thank General Shadrack Sibiya and his team for their exemplary work, and their no-fear-or-favour approach to rooting out corruption in this City. [By] working closely with the Hawks, police, the Prosecuting Authority, Metro police and the residents of this City, we will continue to wage war on corruption.”
Mashaba said the City had also hired 40 new staff members to fill the vacant positions. Staff from other sections within the department would also be deployed to minimise the effect on operations at the centres.
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