Actions include firing and suspending officials over maladministration, fraud, corruption and misconduct, minister tells media
Human settlements, water & sanitation minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Picture: TREVOR SAMSON
Sisulu said the department was in bad shape when she took over and had been declared bankrupt by the auditor-general. Staggering amounts had been lost to the department through irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, she said. She told the media that officials had been charged, suspended and given written warnings regarding allegations of maladministration, fraud, corruption and misconduct related to the irregular expenditure of past financial years.The minister noted that 249 reported cases were investigated during the period from April 2012 to end-September 2019.
The department has referred 18 cases to law enforcement agencies such as the SA Police Service and the Hawks for investigation and possible prosecution. The department has also taken action to clean up the nine water boards. Sisulu said there were ongoing investigations regarding irregular expenditure, mismanagement and governance issues at the Amatola Water Board in the Eastern Cape and Lepelle Northern Water in Limpopo, the latter also being investigated by the Special Investigating Unit.
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