Stop corruption

The Democratic Alliance laid corruption charges against Emalahleni’s Municipal Manager, Mr Theo van Vuuren.
A large group of DA supporters gathered at Saveways Centre on Friday, July 22 and made their way to the police station where DA Caucus Leader Cllr Koos Venter and DA’s Provincial Chairperson and Political Head in Emalahleni, Jane Moloisi-Sithole laid the official charges against the man at the helm of decision making in the municipality.

These charges were based on guidelines set out in the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Venter said he believes that Van Vuuren, as the accounting officer of the municipality, failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent corruption.

This comes in light of an alleged scheme in which the municipality was defrauded of close to R1 million.
The council leased land to two farmers, but money that should have been paid into the municipality’s coffers was paid into an account belonging to a company called Nutra Trading and Projects.

Members of the Democratic Alliance voiced their discontent about corruption in the Emalahleni Local Municipality on Friday, July 22.

Some digging revealed that the business address is in Thubelihle only a few kilometres away from the farm.
The farmer, who wishes to stay anonymous, told WITBANK NEWS he was under the impression that he was paying beneficiaries, Ilanga Libalele Co-operative that stayed on the land when he started leasing it four years ago.
The farmer was given permission to farm with maize and soybeans on condition that he will train beneficiaries in the skill of farming.

[VIDEO]DA lay charges against Theo van Vuuren

The hitch slipped in when in a letter dated on October 1 the farmer was told to pay the money agreed upon into the secondary account. This letter was signed by Van Vuuren.

The second farmer also said they leased land from the municipality and was sent a letter in which the bank account for the secondary account was noted.

The Democratic Alliance’s Caucus Leader Cllr Koos Venter and the party’s Provincial Chairperson and Political Head in Emalahleni, Jane Moloisi-Sithole laid the official charges against Emalahleni’s Municipal Manager, Mr Theo van Vuuren on Friday, July 22.

Venter said suspicions of corruption were further solidified when the DA discovered that in 2013, the one farmer paid an amount of R75 000 into the personal bank account of a ward councillor where the leased farms are located.

The ward councillor allegedly received the money on behalf of the Ilanga Libalele Co-operative.

“This can be seen as facilitation or a bribe by the farmer to the ward councillor. I am also in possession of a letter signed by the Speaker, which I assume was sent to the farmer, as confirmation of the assistance they will be giving to the Ilanga Libalele Co-operative, despite Council having not taken a resolution on the matter yet,” Venter gave further proof.

Venter asked that the Hawks conduct an investigation into Van Vuuren’s role in the facilitation of the movement of payments by the farmer away from municipal accounts into individual accounts not controlled by council.
He also asked that a probe be done to find out if Van Vuuren has facilitated any other transactions intended for municipal accounts into the accounts of individuals not associated with the municipality.

As for Nutra Trading and Projects, Venter wants an investigation into the reason why the bank account details of Nutra Trading were passed on debtors as the secondary account for the municipality and if the woman, in whose name the company is or any of her other companies or bank accounts have had business with the municipality, and the nature of said business.

The woman said the money is in another account and she will soon use it to train the beneficiaries on the two farms.
Venter also asked for an investigation into whether the farmer willingly deposited funds into the account provided by the municipal manager under the guise of it being a secondary account of the municipality, despite records showing that the account actually belonged to Nutra Trading. He also raised the question why the farmer paid money to the ward councillor.

When asked about the R75 000 paid into his account, the ward councillor said: “No comment”.

“Corruption is on the rise, with the municipality losing R40 million a month to large scale fraudulent activities, all leading to the municipality receiving its fourth consecutive disclaimer of opinion from the Auditor General,” Venter said.

Van Vuuren reacted on the charges made against him and said he takes these allegations seriously.

“Since the alleged document has been sent to the municipality an internal investigation has been launched and the results whether there are actually any fraudulent activities, will soon be known. As the investigation as well as that by the SAPS is still ongoing, further information on its results will only be made available later,” he commented.

He took a steadfast stance against corruption and said,

“I deny the allegations against me that I knowingly facilitated payments into a fraudulent account. I am committed to fight any form of corruption and since my appointment more than 30 people have already been dismissed on charges whilst further disciplinary processes are ongoing. In this time a fully capacitated internal audit function with investigating capabilities was also created as well as various systems and controls created to fight such activities. If something is wrong we will find out who is responsible for it and steps will be taken.”

Van Vuuren said he was disappointed in the manner in which the DA handled the situation.

“I have proof that their leadership has been in possession of the alleged document for months and that they refused all attempts to follow the correct processes internally to the municipality and to work together with the municipal audit team to address the alleged matter. I am aware that they for years have suspected some people to be involved in fraudulent activities but never was my administration provided with the opportunity to investigate this.
“I share the DA’s view however that should there be corruption it must be rooted out. However, the distasteful way in which they went on a direct attack against me and my administration is uncalled for. My administration has been and still is open and willing to cooperate with anyone when something is brought to our attention.”

He said he and the municipality will give their full cooperation to the SAPS and they will also hand over the results of their internal investigation to the law enforcement agency.

“I know that for many I have been judged guilty please give the process time to reveal the truth. It is a very difficult space a municipal manager in this municipality operates in, issues like this makes it nearly untenable. Be assured of my best efforts towards service delivery,” he concluded.

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