DA calls for prosecution of other KZN DoE officials linked to PPE procurement scams
14 February 2023
The DA welcomes the successful prosecution of a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Education (DoE) official. This came after the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) referred their findings relating to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) corruption to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The big question now is whether this official will remain in the employment of the department or not.
The DA in KZN was the first to raise the alarm around alleged PPE procurement corruption within the DoE during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also the DA who exposed the exorbitant prices being paid by the DoE for items available at a fifth of the price from almost any retail outlet during that period.
At the time, KZN’s ANC-run government tried to defend the indefensible. Not only was the DA ridiculed for its allegations - which were subsequently confirmed as true - former Education MEC, Kwazi Mshengu also made excuse after excuse and tried every trick in the book to evade accountability.
While this successful prosecution must be hailed, it is not enough. One swallow does not make a summer.
The DA is aware that there are several individuals - including senior officials - who are also implicated in the SIU's findings. These officials are trotting around, safe in the knowledge that nothing will happen to them. This as the new MEC, Mbali Fraser – as was the case with the predecessor - refuses to act on the SIU's recommendation that they be charged.
It is untenable that those who were more interested in lining their own pockets rather than ensuring the wellbeing of KZN’s learners – during a global health pandemic – should escape justice.
The DA sincerely hopes that the SIU will stop waiting for MEC Fraser to act. Steps must be taken to have those still implicated dragged to court where it must be decided whether they are guilty of robbing the public purse.
Issued by Imran Keeka, DA KZN Spokesperson on Education, 14 February 2023
