The Democratic Alliance welcomes the Public Protector’s report into the R631-million Siyenza toilet scandal in the Amatole District Municipality, which has found that there was improper conduct and maladministration in the awarding of the tender to Siyenza.
The DA has been championing the fight against corruption and raised this matter with the Public Protector back in 2015, when the allegations of improper conduct around this tender first arose.
The following extract from the report is telling:
“The fact that this tender did not comply with section 217 of the Constitution and Regulation 32 of the MFMA Regulations justifiably raises suspicion that there was an intention to manipulate SCM processes to the benefit of certain individuals who happen to have political links. A question can be raised whether the Municipality would have acted in the same way had the beneficiaries been ordinary citizens with the same credentials but without political links.”
This extract confirms our suspicions that senior ANC politicians are behind the awarding of this tender, and the DA will not rest until those involved are brought to justice.
The report has found that former ADM municipal manager, Chris Magwanqana, failed to fulfil his fiduciary duties as the Accounting Officer of the municipality, and that irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in excess of R103-million was incurred.
The report further found that the contract between Blue Nightingale Trading 397 (Pty Ltd) trading as Siyenza and the Amathole District Municipality was unconstitutional, and the awarding of the tender to Siyenza was also in violation of the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act.
Download the full report here.
Based on the allegations in the report, I will be laying criminal charges against former ADM municipal manager, Chris Magwanqana and others implicated in the report.
The Siyenza scandal is just another example that highlights how the ANC doesn’t care about service delivery to the people.
The DA believes that those who are guilty of corruption must be sentenced to a minimum of 15 years. It is high time that those responsible for stealing money meant for the people of this province are put behind bars.