Macpherson suspends official implicated in R113m school tender fraud

Public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson has ordered the precautionary suspension of a senior director implicated in the R113m school tender fraud in Mpumalanga. He also wants disciplinary action to be taken against Velamina Matsi-Seregile, the director of construction and project management in the nationaldepartmentin Pretoria. “The minister acted upon learning of the arrest, stressing that any official implicated in serious criminal allegations ought not remain in their role while investigative and/or disciplinary processes are under way,” said his spokesperson James de Villiers on Thursday.

De Villiers said the department would co-operate fully with law enforcement and internal disciplinary processes were running in parallel with the criminal matter “to protect the integrity of the department”. According to the department, Matsi-Seregile appeared in court on Tuesday and is among a group of people facing fraud charges in relation to a multimillion-rand project linked to the Mpumalanga department of education. Matsi-Seregile is one of 38 accused, including officials and business owners, arrestedlast weekend.

According to the Hawks, the officials handpicked companies to repair schools at inflated prices. In some instances payment would be made despite no work having been done and the money would be moved to the accounts of relatives or the officials themselves.