Photo: Facebook.
‘Glaring signs of money laundering and corruption’: EFF opens case against Enoch Mgijima Municipality
“The unveiled stadium is a basic facility without anything that justifies the R22 million which the municipality spent on its construction,” said the EFF .
Photo: Facebook.
When it rains, it pours. The Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality was widely bashed after the big reveal of the Lesseyton Sports Facility on Monday, 4 October, before deleting the social media post and defending its expenditure on the project. Now, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Eastern Cape wants the leadership of the municipality arrested for alleged corruption.
MUNICIPALITY LEADERS COULD FACE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
The EFF in the Eastern Cape said it has opened a case of corruption in Komani against the leadership of the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality. This comes after the unveiling of the Lesseyton Sports Facility caused an uproar because its appearance seemed unsuitable for its reported price.
“The unveiled stadium is a basic facility without anything that justifies the R22 million which the municipality spent on its construction,” said the EFF statement on Wednesday, 6 October.
“There are glaring signs of money laundering and corruption in the entire project, and we have entrusted the criminal justice system to investigate and unearth the truth.”
In an attempt to “set the record straight” on the Lesseyton Sports Facility, the Enoch Mgijima Municipality said it regretted the way the sports ground was initially unveiled on social media because of its “minimal detail.” The municipality justified the price tag of the project by providing a list of all the supposed work done, including fencing, rock blasting excavation, without listing how much was spent on different parts of the project.
The EFF pointed out that the municipality has perennially been in financial crisis and said that the Auditor General raised the alarm about the flouting of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and the collapse of the financial controls in the Enoch Mgijima Municipality.
“We don’t just condemn via Twitter and social media, we act against impunity,” said EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu.
