Attention Broadcasters: Please find here an audio clip in English by Bonginkosi Madikizela MP, DA Spokesperson on Public Works and Infrastructure.
The DA welcomes the action taken by Minister Dean Macpherson in directing the precautionary suspension and disciplinary proceedings against a senior DPWI director implicated in a R113 million Mpumalanga schools tender fraud scandal.
This is exactly the kind of leadership South Africans deserve.
The Minister did not wait, at the expense of accountability but upon learning of the official’s arrest, he acted right away to suspend him, and demonstrates the DA brand of zero tolerance to corruption.
For too long, government departments have been slow to act against officials facing serious criminal allegations, often allowing them to continue drawing salaries while cases drag on.
Minister Macpherson’s zero-tolerance approach sends a clear message: there is no safe harbour for corruption in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, while it’s under a DA Minister.
The alleged fraud, which includes R113 million diverted from a tender meant to repair 21 schools, is a stark reminder of the human cost of corruption. Those classrooms remain broken with children learning in damaged facilities. Every rand stolen from public infrastructure is a direct attack on the communities that depend on it.
This momentum against corruption in national government must be maintained, until every corrupt cadre is removed.
Restoring integrity in national government is spearheaded by the DA, although it will not happen overnight it is well underway.
Accountability for corruption is not a high standard – it is the bare minimum. And that is exactly the standard this Department will be held to.