The human settlements department has been robbed
The human settlements department has been robbed of laptops and files allegedly in an effort to wipe out evidence of procurement corruption involving millions of rand.
Sources with knowledge of the robbery said the department said criminals broke into the department’s Sunnyside headquarters in Tshwane last week and took information, equipment and files about contentious housing tenders.
The surveillance cameras were either switched off prior to the invasion, or were wiped out subsequent to it, said two sources, who asked to remain anonymous. “We don’t know what happened to the surveillance cameras during the break-in, but no video footage exists of the robbery.
“This was definitely an inside job from what we can see because the robbers knew the floor plan very well and stole the equipment and files undetected, despite there being 24-hour security at the headquarters,” said one source.
“That they managed to access the safes of senior officials, as well as knowing where the safes were, shows that people were fed information by … colleagues. There is no denying that this robbery has to do with corruption investigations on the department’s irregular procurement.”
Despite the break-in, the department said this week that it was confident of its security systems.
The Mail & Guardian has been told that many of the files stolen had information related to the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) inquiry into alleged corruption linked to the Duncan Village temporary housing project, which was initiated to alleviate congestion in the Eastern Cape township in line with the government’s Covid-19 response.
Sources said Human Settlements Deputy Minister Pam Tshwete’s office was broken into, as well as a safe belonging to director general Mbulelo Tshangana.
The M&G reported in June that the SIU had unearthed gross procurement irregularities and shoddy workmanship during the construction of the temporary housing.
“The value of the contracts was about R300-million. The SIU investigation found that the emergency procurement process was used to motivate for these structures. However, only 279 of the 1 800 temporary shelters were eventually built,” the SIU report says.
This equated to a cost of about R166 000 for each temporary shelter and, with only 279 built, R253-million worth of units were still outstanding at the time of the SIU’s June report.
The human settlements department’s spokesperson, Mandulo Maphumulo, confirmed this week that the government offices had been robbed, but denied that the deputy minister and director general’s offices were raided.
“Laptops were stolen at offices of officials on the fourth and fifth floor at 240 Justice Mohammed Street. The offices of the deputy minister and the director general are on the first floor. Both incidents were reported to [the police],” Maphumulo said.
“The department is very much confident in its security services and systems. The matter is under investigation by law enforcement agencies.”
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