DA, ANC lock horns in PPE controversy

A RAID by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on the offices of the Matzikama Local Municipality has stirred up a political row in the province, with the ANC and the DA accusing each other of meddling in the investigation.

During the raid the SIU seized PPE equipment worth R1 million from a supplier in the offices of the Matzikama Local Municipality in Vredendal.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said: “We were looking at documentation and invoices in relation to PPE purchases based on allegations that we received in June, even before the president signed the proclamation.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the SIU to investigate the purchase of personal protective equipment in all state institutions in an order signed on July 23.

Kganyago said: “We got wind that there might be a process to make information disappear. We asked the presiding officer in the magistrate’s court for permission to search that location.”

Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said: “I urge the leader of the opposition in the Western Cape, Cameron Dugmore, to look into these allegations and to work with us in tackling corruption and ensuring good governance in the province.”

Bredell said he was “dismayed to learn of alleged attempts to destroy evidence relating to a case of alleged irregular procurement of PPE in the Matzikama Local Municipality.”

Responding, Dugmore said: “Anton Bredell should leave the investigation to the SIU. We as the ANC have given full support to the SIU investigations. Bredell cannot distinguish between his role as an MEC for local government and his role as a DA chairperson.

“Our councillors and our Mayor in Matzikama are co-operating fully with the SIU. So for Bredell to say that evidence has been destroyed, is simply his attempt to interfere and to try to paint the ANC council in a bad light.

“We say to Bredell, come forward with the evidence and stop making allegations without substantiation.”

The raid came on the same day as the province published the first Procurement Disclosure Report by provincial treasury detailing all PPE procurement and expenditure in the province in a standardised report to be made available on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis to the public.

The first report details all PPE procurement and expenditure from April 1 to June 30. Each transaction has details such as the name of the supplier, an item description, the unit price per item and the total spent.