DA to lay charges after millions lost in fleet procurement fraud in Emfuleni

– The DA will be filing criminal charges against officials and a service provider following the findings of a forensic investigation conducted into irregular procurement within Emfuleni Local Municipality’s (ELM’s) fleet department. The party’s mayoral candidate, Kingsol Chabalala, said that reports have revealed that millions of rands of taxpayers’ money were wasted after it was paid to a supplier who never delivered. “This was allowed by officials who allegedly falsely certified delivery and bypassed established Supply Chain Management procedures, improperly acting against protocol.

This is a blatant abuse of public funds and yet another betrayal of trust.” According to the investigation, more than R16m was spent on trucks, graders, and bakkies that were not delivered or obtained through dubious means. The report further implies that these senior officials signed off on invoices confirming delivery despite knowing full well that the vehicles had not been received. Chabalala said that public money, supposed to be used for service delivery, has allegedly been misused in a possible collusion between municipal officials and suppliers for their own self-serving interests.

“Additionally, we demand that the municipality act fast to retrieve money that has been lost.” ELM spokesperson, Makhosonke Sangweni, said that the ELM resolved that the institution must open a case against the affected individuals, asPrema facieevidence exists. “At this stage, we will reserve our comment on the merits or otherwise of the case as we believe the justice system will be capable of prosecuting its responsibilities of justice and provide decisive accountability to the people of ELM.” Sangweni urged political parties in the ELM to give space to the decisions of the council and allow the municipality to act decisively. “We remain committed to Batho Pele and clean governance as an institution of choice.” Add The Citizen as a preferred source to see more from Sedibeng Ster in Google News and Top Stories.