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NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NO.: 310
DATE OF QUESTION: 22 JUNE 2012
310. Mr M W Makhubela (COPE-Limpopo) to ask the Minister of Justice and
Constitutional Development:
(1) Whether persons who are implicated in financial misconduct by
ignoring procurement regulations in five provincial departments in
Limpopo will be prosecuted; if not, why not; if so, what are the
relevant details;
(2) whether there have been any successful convictions by the special
courts that were established for these Section 100 interventions; if
not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
CW410E
REPLY:-
I wish to inform the Honourable Member that: (1) Yes, persons who have been
implicated in financial misconduct will be investigated and prosecuted.
There are currently 33 cases opened with the South African Police Service
(SAPS), and these cases are being investigated by the Directorate of
Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).
Over and above the criminal investigations, there is an ongoing internal
disciplinary investigation process at all the affected Departments. The
process is being led by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), established
in terms of the Special Investigating Unit and Special Tribunals Act, 1996
(Act No 74of 1996). A work breakdown structure has been finalised and
investigations have been initiated with files allocated to individual
investigators. Some officials suspected of misconduct have been identified
and possible charges have also been identified. The charges include the
failure to follow supply chain management processes in the procurement of
services, contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No
1 of 1999) and irregular appointments of consultants, to mention a few.
Where criminality is revealed during the investigations, the matter is
referred to the DPCI to open a criminal case. Once the investigations of
disciplinary matters are completed, the disciplinary file is handed over to
the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) to proceed with
the actual disciplinary process. To date, no disciplinary hearing has been
finalised.
(2) As a result of the Limpopo Intervention, 33 cases have been opened
with the SAPS to date. The cases are at different stages of
investigation. No persons have been arrested as yet and the
investigations are continuing. Kindly note that no âspecial courtsâ have
been established to deal with these matters. However, these cases will
be given special priority by the Prosecuting Authority, once they are
brought to court.