Soup kitchen fraud case opened
A case of fraud was opened against the project manager of Klipplaat Soup Kitchen and Development Centre after approximately R191 000 disappeared from the bank account of this initiative in the 2021/22 financial year.
This soup kitchen is one of the Community Nutritional Development Centres (CNDC) of the Department of Social Development that was established to address issues of poverty and hunger in identified communities. These centres are accessible to poor and vulnerable households and individuals, particularly those between the ages of 19- and 59-years-old.
The initiative falls under the National Development Plan and significant funds were invested into raising the micro-nutrient intake of beneficiaries in order to combat the growing challenge of malnutrition and hunger in these communities.
Peter Edmund van Vuuren, the DA Spokesperson on Social Development in the Eastern Cape, submitted an internal questionnaire to the MEC for Social Development, Siphokazi Lusithi, on the matter of the misappropriated funds.
According to the Lusithi, an emergency board meeting was conducted at the soup kitchen in Klipplaat (Ward 10) on 23 February to inform board management that the community development practitioner picked up a mismanaged amount of R10 500 on the bank statement of 11 February. The project coordinator confessed to utilising the funds for personal use and promised to pay the money back by 31 March.
The three board members present at this emergency meeting accepted his apology and emphasized that it should never happen again.
However, instead of paying back the money, the project coordinator allegedly misappropriated a further R180 500, leaving the initiative with a remaining savings account balance of only R444,05.
The project coordinator stated that he used the money to invest in Bitcoin and admitted that he has done this without the knowledge and consent of the management board. He explained that he invested the money in an attempt to address some of the financial challenges experienced by the CNDC but that the investment is taking longer than expected to payout.
Van Vuuren raised questions around steps that the department has taken to ensure the accused and all other parties involved are removed from the CNDC as soon as possible.
According to Lusithi, the management board confirmed that a case of fraud was opened against the project manager and that he has subsequently been suspended. The accused confessed that he has taken the money and promised to pay it back on 30 June 2021.
Graaff-Reinet Advertiser was unable to confirm whether he has, in fact, paid back the money on the said date.
The District Director of the Department of Social Development also reported the matter to the Department of Social Development Risk Management.
It was also confirmed that the project manager is the only person under investigation despite allegations that employees at the bank, where the savings account is held, were involved in this alleged fraud and theft of the CNDC funds.