303 delayed cases of Limpopo corruption must be probed

Desireé van der Walt

 

According to a media release by the DA, they have formally requested Limpopo’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), to probe the delay in disciplinary cases of provincial government officials involved in 303 cases of corruption.

It emerged during the sitting of the National Council of Provinces that disciplinary actions against certain high level officials in the provincial administration have stalled for over 12 months.

In fact none of the 303 disciplinary cases that had been referred to the department of public administration by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) had been finalised.

Me. Desireé van der Walt wrote to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) Mr. Derick Ngobeni, to ask him to urgently summons Limpopo’s Director-General Ms. Rachel Molepo-Modipa, to explain before this committee why disciplinary steps against certain officials have taken a long time to finalise.

According to the DA, standing at the root cause of this delay, is the acrimonious relationship between the Office of the Premier on the one hand and the Public Service and Administration and the National Intervention Team on the other.

Initially, when this matter emerged in the media, there was a complete denial from the Office of the Premier about these investigations.

If there is a basis for any investigation into corruption, that process must be allowed to take its full course.

According to the DA, anyone who is hindering that process, is complicit in the alleged corruption itself and must also be probed.

Some of these cases include the 11 months suspension of the Chief Financial Officer of the department of health. Gateway Airports Authority Limited (GAAL) Chief Executive has been on suspension for 13 months, with no sign of finalising the matter.

SCOPA, as the parliamentary watchdog over the executive, must take decisive action with timelines, to make sure that all these outstanding disciplinary actions are taken without any further delays.