Three senior Cederberg municipal officials and the owner of a private company have appeared in the Clanwilliam Magistrate’s Court after their arrest by the Western Cape Commercial Crime Investigation Unit on fraud and corruption charges relating to personal protective equipment (PPE).
They were all granted R5,000 bail, with strict conditions, until March next year for the tracing of a further suspect and for the case to be transferred to the Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville, reports News24.
The arrests follow a raid by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) at the municipal offices last September, attaching laptops and cellphones as part of their investigation into allegations of corruption and maladministration in the procurement of PPE.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the arrests were made by the commercial crime investigation unit in the Western Cape after a referral from the SIU.
He said two of the tenders had been awarded to the wife of a senior municipal official, and the third to a friend of a municipal official “where the service provider attempted to bribe an official from the Western Cape local government”.
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SIU probe into fraudulent PPE contracts now exceeds R14bn
Most PPE distributors investigated not licensed — SIU
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