LIMPOPO – Mopani District Mayor Pule Shayi revealed that the district was investigating multiple cases of corruption, including those involving ghost EPWP workers.

Speaking during a ministerial visit by Cogta Deputy Minister Dickson Masemola and Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba, which aimed to assess the state of municipalities in Mopani, the mayor stated that the district was currently investigating a case where it had been paying EPWP workers who do not exist.

“This is a highly unusual situation; we have borehole operators across the local municipalities; however, some of these workers do not exist, and we have been unknowingly paying them stipends every month,” he said, adding that some of these ghost workers were foreign nationals.

He explained that this was possible because, during the hiring process of EPWP workers, multiple people were involved, including ward councillors and traditional leaders, which created loopholes that allowed foreigners to be mistakenly hired.

Shayi said one incident that prompted the district to launch an investigation was when these ghost workers failed to show up at a designated meeting point when required.

“When we visited various satellite offices and requested to meet all EPWP workers, we discovered that 117 individuals would not report for duty; even after threatening to have their salaries withheld, they still failed to show up,” he said.

The district mayor explained that when suspicions arose that the municipality was paying individuals who were not officially employed, they randomly selected two cases for verification. “In the first case, we called a gentleman and asked, ‘Chief, are you an employee of Mopani?’ He responded, ‘No, I’m on the road, driving a truck to Durban to deliver materials.’

“When we questioned him about the monthly payments he has been getting every month, he admitted receiving the money but said it wasn’t for him but for someone else, saying ‘the money comes into my account, then I transfer it to a friend in your district,” explained Shayi.

He added that when they contacted another individual, they found a similar situation.

He said that in Tzaneen, the investigation revealed that a Mozambican national was employed as part of the borehole operator programme.

Following these discoveries, the municipality expanded its investigation to cover multiple areas of its operation.

“We have opened several cases, and arrests will be made soon. Additionally, our CFO is currently on suspension due to allegations of fraud and corruption. As you may have noticed, the municipal manager is also absent because he is attending the CFO’s disciplinary hearing.”

Shayi continued, stating that the district had, therefore, appointed an acting CFO while the disciplinary processes were underway.

He also revealed that several employees are currently on suspension, while others have opted to resign as the district continues to conduct internal investigations with support from external law enforcement agencies.