The City of Cape Town, rocked by allegations of corruption and tender irregularities, is a target for fraudsters, a leading forensic investigator said on Thursday.
”They [the city] are the biggest employers in the Western Cape, they’ve got a lot of individuals with access to funding, with the ability to issue orders, and the opportunity for corrupt service providers to use influence and to bribe is always there,” said Steven Powell, a director at Sonnenberg, Hoffmann and Galombik forensics.
Powell, who spoke on corruption and white-collar crime at a Cape Press Club function, said there are a number of steps the city needs to take to safeguard itself against these corrupt practices.
”I know there are initiatives already in place to tackle some of the procurement processes and some of the abuses that have been highlighted,” he said.
Asked what he thinks should be done at the city, Powell said there are a number of matters already with the Scorpions.
”I know there is a will to investigate this.”
On Thursday, the office of Cape Town speaker Gavin Paulse confirmed he has ordered an investigation into whether mayoral committee member for roads Danile Landingwe acted improperly over the award of a R25-million city road-building contract.
The probe was recommended by Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana in a report on a complaint last year by Democratic Alliance councillor Belinda Walker.
”The speaker has immediately asked for a thorough investigation of the complaints that have been received,” said Paulse’s spokesperson Bernie Levendal.
In the report, which the municipality made available to the media, Mushwana noted that the city’s own forensic audit unit had found after an investigation that Landingwe allegedly made a call to a senior council official to say that the company BTH Construction should be kept in the running for the contract.
However, Mushwana refrained from making any findings himself.
Instead, he recommended that Paulse institute a probe in terms of the councillors’ code of conduct in the Municipal Systems Act.
He also rebuked Walker, saying councillors should refrain from referring complaints to his office ”before exhausting available internal remedies”.
Earlier on Thursday, the city’s procurement director, Mabela Satekge, suggested a police raid on his offices on Wednesday was politically motivated.
Mayoral spokesperson Mandla Tyala had said after the raid that it had been carried out ”at the behest of Premier Ebrahim Rasool”.
”I feel very bad,” said Satekge.
”With my experience, I’ve never seen something like this happen. It’s a political thin [and] shouldn’t be mixed with the official operations,” Satekge told the Tim Modise radio show.
Satekge said the raid was ”highly embarrassing” because it called his integrity into question.
The raid targeted security-tender documents related to a company in which Rasool’s former transport minister — and rival in the Western Cape ANC — Mcebisi Skwatsha once had an interest.
Satekge said he does not see any reason why Skwatsha is being ”singled out” when 31 other companies were also awarded tenders.
He agreed with a caller’s perception of a trend that people have problems with ”darkies” who are awarded large tender contracts.
”Big companies who started 30 to 40 years ago, they are still benefiting from the government tenders, but nobody is saying anything about it … But if small companies can get a R1 000 contract or R1-million contract, then the whole world must know that particular individual doesn’t deserve to get the contract.”
Satekge said the city believes it has the necessary checks and balances in place.
”A tender is not being handled by an individual. A tender is handled by five to 10 people before being awarded.”
Superintendent Piet Viljoen, acting commander of the police’s serious and violent crimes unit, said the raid ”was not done on Rasool’s request”.
However, mayoral spokesperson Mandla Tyala maintained on Thursday that Rasool had ordered the raid, and that a sworn statement to that effect was in possession of the city.
Rasool was not immediately available for comment. — Sapa