DA member of the Provincial Legislature in the province, Freddy Sonakile, tells OFM News that last week Friday the Hawks were called in by the Public Portfolio Committee (SCOPA) for a report. He says there seems to be no progress or slow progress in all the cases reported to the authorities, including the controversial Mediosa and VBS Mutual Bank cases where municipalities were found to have illegally invested millions of rands. Sonakile says they were told in the meeting that witnesses are still being called in to come and give their accounts. 

Meanwhile, Sonakile criticised Premier Job Mokgoro for failing to deal with corruption as he had previously promised in his anti-corruption plan during a previous State of the Province Address (SOPA).

"Remember, as part of his anti-corruption plan he had said the (he) would look into lifestyle audits and, as the DA, we have been very vocal about it and said that he must do the audit and start with the senior managers in various departments and MECs, to lead by example. We even extended it further to say take it to Members of the Legislature who were supposed to do oversight because when things go wrong you have to wonder why are members of the legislature sometimes quiet unless they are also captured in some of these things,“ he adds.

Sonakile says Mokgoro previously said that a company was commissioned to come and do the lifestyle audit.

Earlier, the Ad Hoc Committee chairperson, China Dodovu, on section 100 in the North West, says the committee was concerned over the irregular expenditure from the Department of Education, Public Works, and the Premier's Office. Dodovu said the Department of Education had issued a tender of R25.4 million that was not evaluated by the evaluation committee, and the Department of Public Works and Roads had issued contracts worth R371 million without following proper procurement processes.

OFM News