Zero tolerance for corruption
City could have lost over R7 million if the refund request had been honoured.
The City of Johannesburg collected R1 million from an industrial site owner who was also in the process of claiming a fraudulent refund of R2,2 million from the City.
According to City of Johannesburg’s Executive Mayor, councillor Herman Mashaba, at the beginning of March the company owed the City a total of R5,1 million, but at the end of the same month the account reflected a credit of R2,2 million. The business owner then came forward and claimed a refund of the funds.
“I am informed that staff members working at the Revenue Department realised that something was wrong with the account and immediately intercepted the refund request.
An investigation was then conducted by the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Service department. While the investigation was under way, the previous adjustment which credited the account and reduced the balance to a credit value of R2,2 million was suddenly reversed and the account went back to a R5,1 million debit balance which is due and payable to the City,” said Mashaba.
Apparently the businessman was called in and made an interim payment of R1 million while the query on the account is being addressed. Investigations into the account also revealed that it had not been correctly billed since August last year. City officials are currently working out the correct amount owed. The businessman will then be given the correct bill which he is expected to settle.
The Operation Buya Mthetho (crime prevention) team also visited the premises and found that the electricity meter had been bypassed.
Mashaba mentioned that the City could have lost over R7 million if the refund request had been honoured and thanked all the staff who worked hard to stop this corruption. Over 18 people linked to the fraudulent refunds scam have been arrested in the Revenue Department.
“I am deeply disappointed at learning that these corrupt activities are still continuing. I have instructed our anti-fraud and corruption unit to look into this matter. It is clear that consumers continue to collude with our officials in the fraudulent refunds scam. We have zero tolerance for corruption. That is why we will continue to vigorously pursue every allegation of corruption,” he added.
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