Sensitivity around report on corrupt Polokwane municipal officials

POLOKWANE – The Mayor of Polokwane, John Mpe said the original copy of a forensic draft report of irregularities investigating suspected municipal officials of wrongdoing cannot be shared with anyone – not even members of council – at least until the probe is complete.

This follows concern by the DA, who said councillors were only presented with a summary of the report implicating top senior managers at the municipality, and 17 others, for corruption relating to water project management contracts and buses the municipality acquired for the Leeto la Polokwane programme. Earlier reports indicated fraud to the amount of more than R100m, but this amount is yet to be verified. The managers were suspended pending further investigations, Mpe announced during a media briefing last Thursday.

Forensic investigator group Bowman-Gilfillan on April 21 presented findings relating to allegations of wrongdoing and maladministration to council by some municipal employees who include managers and directors, following recommendations by the office of the Public Protector and the Auditor General.

The report furthermore implicates 17 other employees, including section managers and directors at the municipality, Mpe confirmed, and the DA said it now awaits action against the remaining implicated officials by Municipal Manager, Thuso Nemugumoni, in line with the Systems Act.

The DA says the brief document was later taken away, and that they were also instructed to not have their cellphones with them as the summarised version was presented.

“The DA has requested full access to the entire report, as councillors were only allowed access to a summarised version, which had to be returned to municipal officials due to its sensitive nature. Some issues raised in the report highlight matters previously raised by the DA and the AG,” the political party caucus leader in Polokwane, Jacques Joubert told Polokwane Observer.

Mpe, however, confirmed that members of council were not permitted to take photographs of the report since an investigation is still ongoing, and thus to protect the sensitivity of the information thereof, including those implicated as the matter “could be blown out of proportion, which could damage the quality of the outcome”.

“The report also mentions names of people who have not been notified yet and it would have been beyond unethical to believe such information would be safe if members received copies or if they had taken photos. They all remain innocent until proven guilty,” Mpe remarked.

Joubert said the summarised report disclosed details of “verified acts of Cin the appointments of EPWP workers, verified cases of municipal officials misleading or lying to the Public Protector of South Africa, irregular expenditure of R137m due to the irregular appointment of a service provider who performed a pre-bid-evaluation process, and the probability that numerous tenders were awarded irregularly.