The Department of Housing has filed criminal charges against two former CEOs of the Lepelle and Amatola Water Boards respectively.
A bitter battle has been raging for some time between the department, with Lindiwe Sisulu at the helm, and the heads of the two councils.
Two forensic reports submitted to Sisulu last month revealed large-scale corruption and misappropriation of millions of rands at the Lepelle Northern Water Board (LNW) in Limpopo and Amatola Water Council (AW) in the Eastern Cape.
According to the department, the forensic investigations took longer than expected, but they were thorough, detailed and comprehensive.
Sisulu has already placed both councils under administration, dissolved Lepelle’s board and suspended Amatola CEO Vuyo Zitumane.
The department said on Saturday that it works closely with law enforcement and has appointed a team of lawyers to handle the case.
Terry Motau was previously appointed to lead the investigation and has prof. Dario Milo and Adv. Barry Roux is now also involved in the investigations.
“The department will not allow those who work for the government to do what they want and undermine the authority of the state. The department is also not going to allow people to use state institutions as their personal lender for corruption and embezzlement. “
The department says civil servants must comply with certain rules and regulations.
“The department is proud of the work it is doing to eradicate corruption and undertakes to continue with it.”
The DA’s spokeswoman for water and sanitation, Emma Powell, said earlier that Sisulu’s announcements on the water boards were “a deliberate attempt by her image pointers to hide serious criminal claims facing the minister”. She specifically referred to interference with the granting of tenders at the two water boards.
Powell said Legodi and Zitumane, in their affidavits for Sisulu, accused her of interfering with procurement processes. Powell said it made a mockery of Sisulu’s appointment of Motau to investigate the boards.
