Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane, has ordered a forensic investigation into allegations levelled against the Provincial Transport Department.
In a statement on Friday, he said that he had instructed the Provincial Treasury to begin the probe immediately.
The allegations relate to the improper procurement and inflated costs of sanitisers, the improper procurement of “Bailey bridges” and the improper conduct in the expenditure on the funeral service of the victims of the Centane bus disaster in March in which 25 people were killed.
Mabuyane also ordered a probe into a contract between the Eastern Cape Transport Department and Mioca Lodge in Cala to accommodate employees of the Department’s roads section for more than a year.
The lodge is owned by the daughter of Transport MEC, Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe.
It was also in the news last month when it emerged that people who tested positive for covid19 would be quarantined at the establishment. At the time, Mabuyane ordered that they are accommodated elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the Premier reiterated his commitment to ensuring that the recommendations of the Public Service Commission report, which dealt with irregular appointments in the Department of Transport, are implemented.
However, he said the report is being challenged in court by implicated employees, adding that he will “wait for that judicial review process to conclude and will be guided by its outcomes.”
The Transport Department said that MEC Tikana-Gxothiwe has welcomed Mabuyane’s decision.
She also pledged her full cooperation with the investigation, adding that it would clear the air on some of the allegations made against the Department.
