Hawks set to arrest alleged PPE looters

LAW enforcement agencies are hot on the heels of those implicated in the looting of Covid-19 funds to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) with the Hawks expected to make arrests soon.

But the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Special Investigating Unit and the auditor-general appealed for more resources to crack the cases.

Head of the Hawks Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya said yesterday they were sitting with 23 dockets and would be making arrests by next week. He said the arrests would come as early as Tuesday, but he did not indicate how many people involved in Covid-19 corruption would be arrested.

Police Minister Bheki Cele said he agreed with MPs that they need to arrest people involved in corruption.

“I agree with (ANC MP) Bheki Hadebe that there is nothing wrong in swapping suits with orange overalls. Minister Lamola is paying for those things,” said Cele of prison uniforms.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said they would deal with the issue of more resources for the law enforcement agencies. “We will attend to that issue of intersection between the Hawks and the NPA, whether we can help with the budget. Our job is to help to ensure law enforcement agencies are able to do their job,” said Lamola.

NPA boss Shamila Batohi told the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that they would do their work without fear or favour.

“If the proper risks were identified and the proper mitigating measures were put in place in departments we wouldn’t be sitting here dealing with Covid-19 corruption,” said Batohi.

She also called for more resources to root out corruption in PPE tenders.

“I can’t overemphasise this, that we need investigating agencies to be properly capacitated so that cases can come through,” said Batohi, adding they need more forensic and analytical capacity.

SA Revenue Service head Edward Kieswetter said they were looking at a number of non-compliant cases. He said some of the companies that were awarded PPE tenders had never been involved in the business of PPE before.

He said 17 of the PPE tenders involved politically exposed persons and the value of the tenders was R1.2 billion.

Scopa chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said patience was running thin on the side of MPs and they want to see corrupt people arrested.

“People are fed up and we are fed up. If we do not demonstrate our intolerance to corruption we are complicit in corruption,” said Hlengwa.