By Johnathan Paoli
Premier Panyaza Lesufi has hit back against serious allegations involving a cover-up of widespread corruption, money laundering and fraud within the Gauteng government.
He vehemently denied the allegations on Wednesday, describing them as “baseless and misleading”.
The premier also clarified that officials in the social development department were placed on special leave to prevent interference with an investigation, which wasongoing.
His statement follows civil rights organisation AfriForumaccusing the premier of corruption.
Its private prosecution unit is representing a whistleblower seeking accountability for the misuse of funds intended to support NGOs through the social development department.
The whistleblower alleges that hundreds of millions of rand have been misappropriated over nearly a decade, with forensic reports identifying numerous officials for their involvement in fraudulent activities linked to government allocations for food banks, school uniforms and dignity pack programmes.
AfriForum alleges that Lesufi is the central figure in the cover up. The allegation centres around the investigation of 13 officials from the department who are implicated in forensic investigations.
They
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