Nine senior KZN officials arrested for tender fraud

SENIOR KZN government employees were arrested last week on corruption charges amounting to more than R20-million.

Nine staff members, five of whom are employed in the premier’s office, were arrested by the Hawks for receiving payments for tenders awarded.

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Some of the officials implicated include the chief financial officer and administration clerks.

Hawks spokesperson, Simphiwe Mhlongo, said the five officials appeared in the Durban Commercial Crime Court on Thursday, where they were granted bail.

They are expected to reappear in October.

‘It is alleged that officials in the premier’s office connived with service providers to secure catering tenders, disregarding all supply chain procedures,’ said Mhlongo.

‘The officials allegedly received payments for their interventions. The allegations were reported to the Durban Serious Corruption Investigation Unit, which undertook an investigation which led to the arrest of four officials and one service provider.’

Responding to the arrests, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala said some of the officials from his office were already on precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of the internal disciplinary processes.

‘Now that the matter is in the hands of the criminal justice system, we are duty-bound to allow the process to unfold,’ said Zikalala.

‘We, however, wish to reiterate our position. As government officials, we’re committed to good, clean governance.

‘We are fully committed to running a corruption-free government and will, therefore, deal with all types of fraud and corruption whenever these raise their ugly heads.

This includes implementing consequence management and working closely with law enforcement agencies.’

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