President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation allowing the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to go after those involved in stealing the funds to fight the spread of COVID-19.
The president was concerned by instances where there was corruption and mismanagement of resources to fight the virus, leading to funds stolen, state money misused, goods overpriced and food parcels diverted.
In his latest address to the nation, Ramaphosa today noted the government was increasingly hearing of about fraudulent UIF claims, overpricing of goods and services, violation of emergency procurement regulations, collusion between officials and service providers, abuse of food parcel distribution and the creation of fake non-profit organisations to access relief funding.
“We are determined that every instance of alleged corruption must be thoroughly investigated, that those responsible for wrongdoing should be prosecuted and that all monies stolen or overpriced are recovered,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s sentiments came amid reports that officials in provinces such as Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, among others, were involved in the looting of money for personal protective equipment and food parcels.
The president said his government had established a centre that brings together nine institutions to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute COVID-19 related corruption.
The institutions are: the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Hawks, Crime Intelligence and the SAPS Detective Service, the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the SIU and the State Security Agency (SSA).
“With an operational hub at the FIC, this centre is investigating allegations of corruption in areas such as the distribution of food parcels, social relief grants, the procurement of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies, and UIF special COVID-19 scheme,” he said, adding that at least 36 cases are currently at various stages of investigation and prosecution.
Ramaphosa also noted that since the declaration of the national state of disaster, the Competition Commission has investigated over 800 complaints of excessive pricing. The authority has so far prosecuted or reached settlements with 28 companies, imposing penalties and fines of over R16 million.
This comes as the total number of positive cases of the virus breached the 400 000 mark, making South Africa the country with the firth highest number of infections in the world.
The total number of positive cases is sitting 408,052, which was an increase of 13 104 new cases from yesterday. The official deaths related to the virus increased by 153, bringing the total of those who have succumbed to the disease to 6093.
