Heads set to roll, says Gauteng MEC

The Gauteng department of human settlements’ Anti-Fraud and Corruption Unit has concluded investigations into various officials accused of corruption, money laundering, illegal sale of houses and stands, as well as theft and misappropriation of funds.

Human settlements, urban planning and cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Lebogang Maile said the department had handed over these cases to the relevant law enforcement agencies and there had been findings and evidence of fraud and corruption.

“The cases are at different stages of the legal process, with some suspects having been charged and released on bail. Other cases [are] still under further investigation ... and some are at trial stage, as we seek to criminally prosecute all those who commit acts of malfeasance,” Maile said.

He was speaking on Monday about measures being undertaken to deal with the housing backlog, underperformance, fraud and corruption within the human settlements department.

The department was implementing a turnaround strategy to address underperformance and root out corrupt elements.

“We have been methodically and systematically tackling governance, planning, financial management, organisational and delivery challenges that have made the department a consistent underperformer, to the detriment of the people of Gauteng.”

He said the department had undertaken a process of resolving issues raised by the auditor-general, which is one of the critical failures of the department to obtain clean audits and adhere to the principles of good governance.

“We are in the process of putting in place an electronic document and records management system, so this is a problem the department never has to be confronted with again,” he said.

In addition, the department had appointed two new managers, including a head of department and chief executive, with a mandate to clean up its financial management and had put in place systems and processes that would bring about institutional stability.

“The appointment of these two new managing officials is to ensure that governance and stability is restored, which is one of the critical challenges that have negatively impacted on the department,” Maile said.

– SAnews.gov.za

We have been tackling challenges that have made the department a consistent underperformer.

Lebogang Maile Gauteng MEC