UPDATE: Minister Sisulu appoints lawyer to oversee water and sanitation corruption allegations
She highlighted that among other interventions in place, they will assist schools that are lacking in water and sanitation services.
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has appointed advocate Jerry Motau to lead a team that will be responsible to investigate the recently reported corruption allegations.
Sisulu announced this during a media briefing at Rand Water head offices in Glenvista on May 13.
This is after Sisulu reportedly received a report that more than R16-billion worth of projects had been issued irregularly and fraud was reportedly committed by officials.
She said: “The investigations are aimed at ensuring that the Department of Water and Sanitation and the entities under the ministry’s jurisdiction deliver on the services of the people of South Africa.”
Investigations
Sisulu said despite a huge backlog on investigation matters and labour relations matters, progress had been made regarding investigation in matters related to the irregular expenditure.
“Following these measures being put in place, advances were made to tackle fraud and corruption within the department. This was a result of various forensic investigations conducted by the Directorate of Forensic Investigations in the Chief Directorate of Internal Audit,” she said.
During the briefing, which she chaired, she said during the period of April 1, 2012, to September 31, 2019, a total number of 249 reported cases were investigated.
“One hundred and thirty-nine of the cases were found to be true and were referred for disciplinary action while 110 of them were found to be untrue. Of the 139 disciplinary cases, 86 officials were found guilty, 14 officials were not found guilty and 24 officials resigned,” she said.
The department has further also prioritised 151 irregular expenditure investigations and 13 forensic investigations within the next six months. The investigations are aimed for completion within 12 months’ time.
She said the potential recoveries are estimated at R18.2-million based on claims instituted through civil proceedings and the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
Opening of schools
She highlighted that among other interventions in place, they will assist schools that are lacking in water and sanitation services.
“We will work with the Department of Basic Education around a total of 3 475 schools. The schools have been identified by the department and are spread across the country. We have signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the department that will see us actively working together to ensure these services reach our community of learners,” she said.
