Eight people have been arrested in connection with corruption in the construction sector in the city of Cape Town.
- The Cape Town government is taking disciplinary action against officials involved in the fraud.
- Police arrested eight people on Thursday in connection with corruption in the construction sector.
- After that, one of the city officials resigned.
Cape Town authorities said they were taking disciplinary action against two officials involved in the fraud.
This comes after eight people were arrested in connection with corruption in the construction sector in the city of Cape Town.
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Police in the Western Cape said they arrested eight people on Thursday as part of an investigation into tender fraud in the municipality. They were accused of inflating invoices, irregularly paying service providers for unfinished construction work and other illegal activities, police spokeswoman Brigadier General Novela Potelva said.
City officials said the arrests were made in connection with the alleged fraudulent overbilling of subcontractors for repairs and maintenance.
Two officials were brought to disciplinary action, according to the mayor’s office. After that, one of the officials resigned.
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“In addition to the forensic examination, the city’s internal audit also independently identified various control gaps in the management of the prime contract, which was originally awarded in 2017-18,” the city said.
“Since then, the city has established its own engineering services department, staffed with professionals to oversee all construction and maintenance work… To address historical gaps, multi-level controls have since been established under strong management oversight.”
The city government added that about R2 billion worth of maintenance and upgrades have been carried out to more than 40,000 affordable rental units. About 160,000 people live in affordable rental housing owned by the city.
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