HARRY Gwala District Municipality has commended the work done by SAPS after 10 people appeared in Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Monday for allegedly milking R1.3 million from municipal coffers.
The people, aged between 20 and 48 years old, were arrested for fraud, corruption, and money laundering last weekend.
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Hawks spokesman Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said they were granted bail between R2 000 and R5 000 after appearing in court on Monday. He said they were told to return to court on November 9.
“The suspects include officials from Harry Gwala District Municipality, company directors and a husband of the municipal official. It is alleged that the municipal officials; which include a director, project manager, finance manager and administration manager; colluded with service providers in processing false claims for services that were not rendered,” said National Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi in a statement.
He added that R1,3 million was allegedly shared among the officials and their accomplices.
Harry Gwala District Municipality spokesperson Ndabezitha Ntenza said four people had resigned from the municipality in January this year.
“One of the employees who was arrested for allegedly being involved in corruption was working for the Department of Finance,” he said.
He said the municipality is promoting clean governance and is happy about the arrests because the money was supposed to do important things for communities.
“The municipality was aware of the investigation, which led to the arrests of 10 people.
“The money was lost between December 2017 and February 2018,” he said.