- The SIU has frozen the assets of 14 entities linked to a R431 million school cleaning tender.
- Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says he is “disappointed” and will act against whoever is involved.
- The SIU found that 173 service providers were not accredited and not on the central supplier database.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has said he must face action if he is identified in the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report on the department’s decontamination tenders.
On Monday, Lesufi commented briefly in reaction to the SIU’s move to freeze the bank accounts and assets of 14 entities linked to a school decontamination tender worth R431 million.
The MEC was speaking at Cornwall Hill College in Irene near Pretoria, where parents and pupils were protesting against racism and discrimination.
News24 previously reported that the Special Tribunal had granted an order to the SIUÂ to freeze assets and bank accounts worth R40.7 million, belonging to seven companies, five individuals and two family trusts, to which the education department had awarded contracts.
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“I will act immediately. I will act without fear or favour on whoever is implicated. Even if it (the report) mentions me, someone must act against me,” Lesufi said.
He added that he would also act against whomever else was mentioned in the report as soon as he received it.
In a statement last week, the SIU described the selection and appointment of suppliers to sanitise schools in the province as haphazard and unfair.
“Ordinarily, the supply chain management (SCM) division of the department would select and appoint suppliers. In this case, the SIU investigation has revealed that the SCM division was not involved in the selection and appointment of service providers. Some of the names of service providers appointed were received via WhatsApp from officials of the department,” the SIU said.
It added that the procurement process was not cost-effective and that of the 280 service providers appointed, 173 were not accredited and not on the central supplier database (CSD).
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