Mobility
Question by Hon Sileku.
Whether his Department investigated the tender awarded to a certain company whose name has been furnished to his Department for the purpose of his reply; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
On the 31st of January 2024, the former Head of Department received an anonymous email from a Gmail account alleging of relations between officials and the company in question. On receipt of this email, the former HOD, duly referred the matter to the Provincial Forensic Services Unit for review and investigation. The Provincial Forensic Services Unit, within the Department of the Premier Corporate Assurance, deals with cases and/or suspicions of fraud, theft and corruption affecting the Western Cape Government.
Therefore, my Department does not undertake investigation into suspected fraud or corruption.
Speaker, now let me go back to the chronological order of this particular matter.
On 1 February 2024, the Provincial Forensic Services Unit responded to the anonymous email account requesting additional information. The Provincial Forensic Services Unit felt that the information provided was largely general in nature and therefore required additional information to undertake a proper and thorough investigation into the allegations.
Ongellukig het hulle nie die addisionele inligting ontvang soos versoek nie.
Op die 17de Oktober 2024, is ‘n ander e-pos ontvang, maar vanaf ‘n ander anonieme e-posadres. Hierdie e-pos het soortgelyke inhoud gehad, maar met bykomende inligting.
In response to this, Provincial Forensic Services Unit requested additional information, but to date this has not been received.
On the 19th of November 2024, Provincial Forensic Services Unit sent a follow up email to both anonymous accounts requesting the additional information, with a deadline of 26 November 2024.
Want op hierdie stadium kan hulle nie voorentoe beweeg nie. As such, they have only conducted a desktop study of the limited information provided, and the way forward will be determined by whether they receive the requested information or not.
Speaker, I wish to emphasize that the Western Cape Government maintains an unwavering zero tolerance for corruption, or any unbecoming activities. I am resolute in embedding this principle in all our departmental operations.
With that said, it is imperative that when serious allegations of this nature are brought to the fore, whistleblowers must cooperate with the investigators. At this stage, the Provincial Forensic Services Unit is struggling to get cooperation from the whistleblower in relation to the requested additional information. It would be appreciated if the Honourable Member or any other person could come forward with this information to put this atter to bed.
In the absence of such evidence, we risk descending into baseless witch-hunts, which could destabilize and demoralize organisational cohesiveness, whilst undermining our integrity.
