Hawks raid North West Department of Agriculture
24 May 2018
The Hawks are currently conducting a search and seizure operation at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the North West province.
The raid comes a day after former premier Supra Mahumapelo announced his decision to step down during a media briefing at the African National Congress' Luthuli House headquarters.
The province had been embroiled in violent protests as residents and some members of his party called for him to resign.
The province has since been placed under administration.
Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said they had received tips of alleged corruption within the department.
He said they were seizing documents and other electronic equipment.
"The details we will only be able to reveal later. Our investigations started in March and we are hoping to finalise the case soon."
Last month the Economic Freedom Fighters called on the Public Protector to probe Mahumapelo's alleged gift of cattle worth R1.5m to then president Jacob Zuma.
It was alleged that the cattle were paid for using public funds and were meant to help emerging farmers in the province.
Earlier this year News24 reported that the Hawks raided the offices of Mahumapelo in March looking for documents related to the multimillion-rand IT contract with Nepo Data Dynamics.
