The Department of Public Works in KZN has laid a criminal charge against a senior official.
Image: Se-Anne Rall/IOL
The Department of Public Works in KwaZulu-Natal has opened a criminal case against one of their own.
The department, on Tuesday, confirmed that a charge was laid against its Director of Supply Chain Management for gross negligence which cost the department around R1.1 billion. The employee was dismissed from their position.
"In September last year, several discrepancies were flagged against the official in respect of the procurement of a certain consulting company. These included missing documents in the procurement file, significant discrepancies between services requested and those procured, non-conducting of required checks and balances and ensuring the fair awarding of contracts to bidders," the department said.
It said investigations found that one single firm was awarded a total of 29 contracts to the value of R1,164,440,398.03 or just over R1.1 billion.
"This meant that the firm held an unfair and unchecked monopoly over contracts issued by KZN Public Works and Infrastructure," the department explained.
It added that in addition, the department has also laid criminal charges against three more senior officials who are suspected of corruption and financial malfeasance.
It added that one of the key functions of its senior official was to identify and mitigate risk while avoiding irregular expenditure during procurement processes.
Department MEC, Martin Meyer, said criminal charges will also be laid against officials who were found guilty and dismissed due to corruption and financial misconduct.
"The department’s hard stance and zero tolerance of corruption should be a stern warning to companies who seek to collude with officials in the department," warned Meyer.
seanne.rall@iol.co.za
IOL
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