By Mwangi Githahu 
14m ago
Cape Town – Premier Alan Winde has disputed claims made by the head of the SIU, Andy Mothibi, that the Western Cape is a hotspot of corruption.
Last week during a presentation to parliament’s portfolio committee on justice Mothibi said that the Western Cape was in third place behind Gauteng and KZN as far as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) corruption is concerned.
According to Mothibi, at 44% Gauteng has the highest number of corruption reports KwaZulu-Natal came second with 13%, followed by the Western Cape with 10%. Mothibi also said that the City contributes 7.4% of all corruption cases in the province.
Mothibi said the trending forms of corruption include maladministration, misappropriation of resources and procurement irregularities.
Provincial opposition leader Cameron Dugmore (ANC) questioned Winde about the accuracy of Mothibi’s claims and what role the provincial government played in any subsequent SIU investigations.
Winde said: “Quite frankly I am confused by the statement of the head of the SIU, when we all know that the Western Cape is the cleanest province in South Africa.
“This is proven year after year with our audit results against which other provinces cannot even compare. In the 2019/20 financial year, 70% of the province’s entities and departments obtained clean audits compared to the next best province, Gauteng, with 30% clean audits.
“We do not tolerate any form of corruption and that’s why the provincial department of environmental affairs and development planning assisted the SIU when it launched an investigation in respect of the procurement of three thermometers to monitor Covid-19, which cost R8910. That matter was resolved.”
He said that during the 2020/21 financial year the SIU requested information from certain departments, which has been provided to them. Those departments that were contacted gave their willing cooperation and assistance to the SIU teams.
However he added that no cases had been referred to the SIU during the period 2020/2021 by any of the departments in the Western Cape.
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Cape Argus
Credit IOL