9 City officials to appear in Court for theft 

2 March 2017

Today, 9 officials employed at Pioneer Park and Southern Suburb swimming pools, will be appearing in the Commercial Crimes Court for theft of approximately R 40 000 stolen between January and December of 2015.

This follows further investigation conducted by the City’s Anti-Corruption Unit, headed by General Shadrack Sibiya. An initial investigation had begun in November of 2015, but up till now, had yielded few results.

Through General Sibiya’s office, further investigation into the matter is set to continue.

The officials, cashiers at these public facilities, were arrested on 28 February 2017, and later released on warning. It is alleged that the suspects pocketed cash payments made by residents utilising these facilities rather than depositing the payments to the City’s accounts.

I continue to be proud of the stellar efforts made to weed-out corruption from within the City. These efforts are crucial to delivering the clean governance that the people of Johannesburg deserve.

Last week I announced that the City had allocated R38 million in the 2016/17 Adjustment Budget for the capacitation of the Anti-Corruption Unit within the City. The work that this team has produced without the required capacity is quite astonishing. I am excited to see what they are able to achieve when fully capacitated.

The civil service is a calling centered on seeing to the needs of the public – our residents must always come first. Those who engage in corruption have willfully abandoned this calling. For them, there can be no space in this administration.

Working together with our other dedicated City employees, of which I am convinced there are many, we will show our residents that the Ciaty has a trustworthy, competent and professional civil service.

I encourage residents and civil servants alike to ensure that this municipality’s funds go to those it ought to – the residents of this City.

I would also like to congratulate General Sibiya and his team for their excellent work.

Corruption is public enemy number one in this City and we will not rest until corrupt officials are exposed, sent to jail and stolen money returned.

Issued by Tony Taverna-Turisan, Director of Communications, Office of the Executive Mayor, City of Johannesburg, 2 March 2017