Johnathan Paoli
THE EFF have appealed to the Hawks to initiate immediate investigations into the confirmed reports of theft of funds from the Zululand District municipality and demanded that the banks holding the accounts of the individuals implicated disclose the identities of the recipients.
This follows an oversight visit led by the party’s deputy president and chief whip Floyd Shivambu to the Zululand District Municipality in KwaZulu Natal province on 22 January, and included MPs Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi and Babalwa Mathulelwa, provincial chairperson Mongezi Twala and deputy Thobisile Nkosi as well as councilors from the district and local municipalities.
The party said that the oversight visit was necessitated by the now confirmed reports that an amount of R33 million was stolen from the Municipality’s bank accounts on 27 December last year.
The EFF said that it could officially confirm that an amount of R32 019 914.96 was withdrawn from the District Municipality in 6 tranches ranging from R3.8 million to R9.6 million.
The party confirmed that upon notification by ABSA, the municipality manager Ronald Hlongwa informed the bank that the transactions were illegal and opened a case at Ulundi Police Station.
The companies implicated include: Zero Azania Pty Ltd (R8 790 009), Top Centre Trading (R9 675 241), Mjwara Pty Ltd (R3 854 078), and Siyakhulisa Distributors (R9 711 603).
The party said that after the bank’s interventions and an interim court order issued on 8 January, an amount of R26 065 209 was repaid to the municipality’s bank account.
In addition it was confirmed that an amount of R4 831 247 paid to Siyakhulisa Distributors was currently being held in an FNB suspension account awaiting the final court order.
The Municipality has since suspended the head of IT who was alleged to have played a role in the unlawful and illegal transfer of the funds.
The party said after directing the manager as well as the CFO to strengthen the municipality’s cybersecurity, it intends to write to the Hawks to demand urgent action against all those involved in the theft of public funds.
In addition, the EFF demanded the immediate suspension of the implicated companies from the Central Suppliers Database (CSD) of the National Treasury in order to prevent them from doing business with the state until the investigations were concluded.
The delegation demanded an explanation on the Auditor General’s findings that the district had an unauthorised expenditure of R126 million for the 2022 financial year.
In conclusion, the delegation further demanded a more vigilant scrutiny of the municipality’s water extraction and reticulation projects as well as loadshedding.
“We encourage the EFF Public Representatives to intensify oversight on Municipalities and demand optimal accountability from the government. We carry the obligation to protect public resources and make sure that they are fully used for the benefit of ordinary people and not the corrupt and vile few,” the statement read.
In 2021, Thulasizwe Buthelezi returned as a mayor after the local government elections with the help of the EFF’s Thulani Ndlovu, who was elected to the deputy mayor’s position.
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