KwaDukuza Municipality claims Hawks were ‘cordial’, attacks media report on PPE investigation

KwaDukuza municipality has strongly attacked the North Coast Courier report last week that the Hawks Specialised Criminal Investigations Unit (SIU) was investigating KDM for possible irregularities in the awarding of contracts for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Acknowledging that KDM was under investigation by the Hawks, the municipality nevertheless denied there was anything “untoward” in its PPE procurement processes.

According to KDM spokesperson, Sipho Mkhize “this activity is currently taking place across government spheres and is not specific to or targeted to probe the KwaDukuza Municipality”.

The press release claimed that the KDM report on PPE expenditure, tabled in council on September 30, had been distorted by the Courier’s report headlined “Hawks grill KDM officials” (October 23).

KDM denied their offices had been raided and documents seized.

While admitting that 5 or more officials had been interviewed by the SIU, they had not been “grilled” and engagements had been “cordial”.

“Insofar as allegations that certain companies’ tax affairs were not in order when they were awarded contracts, the municipality confirms that tax affairs were in order and that CSD (Central Supplier Database) was checked.

“The Mayor was not interrogated for two hours, in fact, the Mayor met the SIU with the executive director of Corporate Service for less than 20 minutes.

“The meeting was for SIU to explain their visit and also for the executive director to sign documentation that would enable the SIU to do their work without limits in the municipality,” said Mkhize.

The Covid-19 scandal has engulfed nearly every province in the country, with the SIU probing multiple provincial departments and municipalities across all provinces, including 6 national departments, for questionable contracts worth more than R5 billion.

The SIU started its investigation on KDM on October 2, when officials entered the municipal offices.

KDM spent close to R5 million on PPEs between March 15 and September 11.

Finance minister Tito Mboweni has called for all PPE contracts to be made public and the names of all who won contracts to be published for public scrutiny, and to name who the competitors were and on what basis the companies were not considered.

Mboweni also wanted the age of the companies to be made public.

The Central Supplier Database for Government registration summary report, which is in the Courier’s possession, shows that MK Vets Enterprises, which was awarded contracts worth R1.7 million, was registered as a company on June 11, 2019, and issued with a BBBEE level 1 status on November 29, 2019.

MK Vets Enterprises gave a business address which is occupied by an engineering company.

No offices of the MK Vets could be located nor could they be reached for comment.

IFP councillor Moosa Motala said he stood by his statement calling for compulsory lifestyle audits to be conducted on all all senior officials – including heads of departments – in a bid to tackle corruption and the abuse of public resources for private gain.

Motala said KDM was “nitpicking” and the SIU were there to investigate allegations of irregularities, not to “have a cup of tea with the mayor.”

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