Madonsela to probe EC municipalities over Mandela funeral fund scandal

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela is investigating allegations of maladministration and corruption by the province of the Eastern Cape in connection with the procurement of service providers to render services in preparation for the memorial service and the funeral of the late former president.

It is alleged that in December last year the Eastern Cape Provincial government made allocations for preparations for the memorial services and state funeral and the amount involved is alleged to be approximately R90m of public funds which were ostensibly used imprudently by the Eastern Cape government as well as some municipalities that were appointed as implementing agents."

Her spokesperson, Kgalalelo Masibi said on Tuesday that this related to procurement of service providers for Mandela's memorial services and funeral and amounted to approximately R90-million.

She said Madonsela will zoom in on several Municipalities, including the province's two metros.

"The Municipalities that have been implicated are Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Metro, OR Tambo District Municipality and King Sabata Dalinyebo Municipality. They were appointed in their capacities as implementing agents and host cities and the worked together with the Eastern Cape Treasury and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation."

"There is an amount of R250 000 that is alleged to have been irregularly paid by the provincial Treasury into a personal banking account of the former MEC for Treasury and Planning, who is the current Premier. The information that the Public Protector has is that the former MEC deemed the deposit inappropriate and he directed the reversal of the said transaction. But, this is also forming part of the investigation by the Public Protector."

"The Public Protector will be looking at the propriety of that transaction since public funds was used to deposit money into the private banking account of a member of the Executive Council."

The Public Protector is currently at an information-gathering stage of the investigation. She will proceed to assess the information she is receiving and the evidence she's obtained if there is cooperation from the affected parties. The investigation involves interviews it also involves inspection-on-loco but she intends to complete the investigation as soon as possible depending on how soon she gets the information and depending on the cooperation of the parties involved.