The party’s provincial spokesperson, Thabo Meeko, says they are working on measures to curb corruption and deal with those implicated in acts of corruption and thus welcomes the arrest of two senior officials at the municipality.

The two officials, Chief Financial Officer Nrateng Khumalo, and the Expenditure Manager, Diakanyo Khampepe, were arrested last week Thursday for alleged fraud and corruption and subsequently appeared on Friday where they were both granted R10 000 and R1 000 bail respectively.

According to the Hawks’ Hangwani Mulaudzi, the two ladies’ arrest came as a result of the directorate’s investigation into a security services tender that was allegedly awarded irregularly by the municipality to a company called Zero Tolerance back in 2016. The municipality reportedly lost approximately R4.6 million as a result of the alleged irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Meeko, says more investigations are going to follow and that the ANC is also instituting investigations into all troubled municipalities where there are such allegations of corruption…

 Meanwhile, the DA in the province has stated that the arrest of the officials is not enough and more needs to be done to help the municipality from their financial rut.

“While the DA notes the arrest of two senior executives from the ruined Maluti-A-Phofung municipality, this is simply not enough. The arrest of officials is just a smokescreen because the very politicians who masterminded the corruption scandals have not been held accountable,” says the party’s Free State leader, Patricia Kopane.

Maluti-A-Phofung currently tops Eskom’s list of municipalities that owe it money for bulk power supply. It owes the power utility more than R2.8 billion and is listed in the latest Auditor-General report amongst the municipalities that need urgent intervention.

Municipalities in the Free State collectively owe Eskom over R7.8 billion, making it the province with the highest Eskom debt.

The two senior officials, together with the four who were arrested last year December, as well as the Zero Tolerance's company director, are set to appear before the Bethlehem Regional Court on April the 4th.

OFM News