By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng called for Premier David Makhura to be held accountable for the massive looting of taxpayers’ money meant for the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga says, Makhura should also be held accountable for failing to act decisively against the implicated officials across all the departments in the province.
“The damning [Special Investigating Unit’s] SIU’s report on PPE corruption has exposed the rotten corruption within the Gauteng government departments.
“Gauteng has the largest amount of money wasted on corruption, all of which happened under the watch of the premier who is still trying to vindicate himself while forgetting that he has a Constitutional responsibility to fight corruption in this province, “Msimanga said in a statement on Sunday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa last week publicly released the SIU’s final report into the government’s procurement of goods, works and services associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 737-page report showed how government officials and suppliers treated R145 billion worth of Covid-19 relief funds as a “get rich quick scheme”, with Gauteng province being the worst offender.
With more than R6 billion worth of contracts under investigation, the SIU’s report showed irregularities were found in 93% of the contracts in the province.
Read the full SIU Report here: SIU Report on PPE.