Eight senior officials from the office of the premier of the Eastern Cape have been arrested for allegedly colluding with a company director to fraudulently award a tender.
The provincial education department allegedly asked the office of the premier to help with emergency procurement of 72 temporary classrooms and furniture in Gqeberha and Kariega.
The R20m tender was given to a company but it was discovered that officials in the premier’s office allegedly did not follow procurement processes in awarding the tender, Hawks spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela said.
“It was also alleged that the preferred service provider was closely linked to the officials. Further allegations are that the delivery of the classrooms was not completed but funds allocated were exhausted,” Mgolodela said.
The matter was reported to the Hawks and the investigation led to the arrest of eight people in Gauteng on Monday.
The suspects, aged between 43 and 71, were arrested by the East London Hawks team, the Hawks national serious corruption investigation unit and the SAPS anti-corruption unit with the Gauteng national intervention unit.
The eight include high-ranking officials from the premier’s office and the company directors who were awarded the tender.
They face charges of fraud, forgery, money-laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.
“The eight are in transit to the Eastern Cape where they will appear on December 12 in the Zwelitsha magistrate’s court,” she said.
TimesLIVE
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