Hawks arrest 23 over alleged graft in Mpumalanga school repair contracts

By Charmaine Ndledla

The Hawks in Mpumalanga have arrested 23 suspects, including senior education officials, over alleged corruption involving emergency school renovation tenders that led to the defrauding of R114 million from the provincial education department. 

More arrests are expected as the investigation widens to other government departments, Major General Nico Gerber said during a press briefing on Sunday. He said 41 suspects had been targeted.

The contracts for the emergency repairs were allegedly awarded without proper procedures being followed, at inflated prices, or, in some cases, the work was not done. Some of the tenders date back to 2018.

Gerber said officers had conducted coordinated raids at multiple residences of suspects across several provinces, including Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Western Cape. 

Some suspects could not initially be found and remain at large, he said. 

Government officials among those identified at the time of the corruption include an acting head of