The Democratic Alliance has criticised the lack of action being taken by EC premier Oscar Mabuyane in response to the revelations of major fraud in the procurement of personal protection equipment (PPE).
As previously reported by the Daily Dispatch, suspicions were raised last October when a trading company was awarded a R2.7m PPE tender by the provincial department of education.
This was just one of many dodgy PPE tenders that have been uncovered in the Eastern Cape and the rest of the country.
“The value of suspicious contracts investigated in the Eastern Cape itself is an indictment on the province’s ability to provide clean governance,” said DA shadow MEC for finance Retief Odendaal.
“Despite premier Oscar Mabuyane’s firm commitment that his government will take a hard line against Covid-19 corruption, he has been unable to charge a single person criminally or prevent delinquent service providers from doing business with the government.”
Odendaal has called for the provincial government to implement stronger measures to combat irregular procurement.
“There is a need for interventions in the early detection of corruption which must be proceeded by a coordinated response from law enforcement entities to ensure quick and efficient investigation, prosecution and the recovery of funds,” he said.
