City suspends officials for fraud linked to housing projects
Details of how the payments were processed are part of an ongoing investigation by the city’s Integrity and Investigations Unit.
The eThekwini Municipality has suspended officials linked to purportedly irregular and fraudulent transactions totalling R17 million.
The transactions relate to three housing projects in the Umlazi T section, eMaphephetheni and KwaMakhutha.
The officials were suspended after the municipality, through its internal control processes, last month uncovered an elaborate fraudulent scheme in which R17 million was paid to two companies.
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Six more officials have been issued with letters of intent to suspend.
Details of how the payments were processed are part of an ongoing investigation by the city’s Integrity and Investigations Unit.
Contrary to a report in a mainstream publication on October 13, the amount involved in the scheme is R17 million, not R32 million.
The money also did not ‘disappear’ or go ‘missing’ as the article implies but it was fraudulently transferred. In addition, the three housing projects linked to the fraudulent scheme have nothing to do with resettling flood victims, they are ordinary projects of the municipality’s Human Settlements Unit.
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The three housing projects are continuing however, there will be a budget shortfall in the current financial year which means their estimated completion will now be during the 2024/25 financial year.
The eThekwini Municipality remains committed to rooting out fraud and corruption wherever it rears its ugly head. This is done through continuous tightening of internal control processes and through taking harsh action against officials implicated in wrongdoing.
