Lerato Mbhiza
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has announced that it will investigate what it has called serious allegations of maladministration in the Office of the Premier in KwaZulu-Natal after receiving a go-ahead from President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Premier, Nomuse Dube-Ncube faces claims of unlawful and improper conduct, which occurred between April 2007 and July this year. Investigative work commenced on Wednesday, said the SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.
If Dube-Ncube is found guilty of maladministration, the SIU will recommend that she is disciplined and If money needs to be returned, the case will be taken to a special tribunal.
Should the SIU find criminality, the case will be passed onto the National Prosecuting Authority, Kganyago said.
“The investigation will also look to see if there was any unauthorised, irregular, or fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred by the Office of the Premier in KZN or losses suffered by the provincial office or the state,” he said.
The investigation will focus on several areas, including:
The appointment of consultants in some of the government’s key projects, including Operation Sukuma Sakhe.
The irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure incurred by the Office of the Premier, the provincial office of the state over the years.
Any irregular, improper, or unlawful conduct by the contractors, employees, or officials of the Office of the Premier and suppliers, service providers, or any other person or entity.
Dube-Ncube said her office had just received a clean audit report for the last financial year and insisted the province was run ethically.
The DA has long maintained that the Premier’s office is captured and a front for protecting corrupt comrades. As the highest office in the province, the OTP (Office of The Premier) is supposed to set an example for provincial government departments in terms of ethics and performance,” said the DA, and yet this is not the case.
“The DA is committed to offering every support to the SIU in their investigations. KZN’s people deserve a government that is accountable and transparent. 2024 will provide them with the opportunity to elect a new government and save our province.”
The SIU probe comes three years after a forensic investigation resulted in the suspension of the department’s chief financial officer (CFO) Ziphathe Cibane, supply chain manager, Nonhlanhla Hlongwa, and two other officials.
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