PRETORIA, February 18 (ANA) – The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is owed almost R389 million by state institutions, the presidency said on Saturday.
Following a meeting with SIU head Andy JL Mothibi in Pretoria on Friday, Zuma called on government departments and entities that owed the SIU to pay their debts without delay to enable the SIU to continue functioning properly, the presidency said in a statement.
Friday’s meeting was the first since Mothibi’s appointment as SIU head last year.
“The SIU’s mandate is to recover and prevent financial losses to the state caused by acts of corruption, fraud, and maladministration. The SIU also assists departments with systemic improvements that improve service delivery,” the presidency said.
Mothibi informed Zuma that the SIU was owed R388,966,514 by state institutions. It was unacceptable that the institutions withheld much-needed funding to the SIU and they “should pay up without delay”, Zuma said in the statement.
“The SIU is currently undertaking many investigations based on proclamations signed by the president. In particular, between 2010 and 2016 a total number of 69 SIU proclamations were signed, with 10 proclamations signed in the 2016/2017 financial alone, to investigate a number of allegations of corruption.
“The actual value of the money and/or assets that has been recovered for the state and/or relevant third parties by the SIU is R22.5 million to date in 2016/17. Since 2011/12, the total value of money that has been recovered for the state to date is R279.5 million,” the presidency said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
