South Africa’s Ramaphosa Authorises Probe into Several Government Departments

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised an investigation into allegations of irregularities and unlawful conduct at several government departments, the presidency said on Friday.

The decision is the latest by Ramaphosa to tackle alleged corruption and misgoverance in the administration of his predecessor Jacob Zuma, who was forced from office in February by the ruling African National Congress.

The presidency said in a statement that the proclamations authorise investigations of “allegations of serious irregularities in relation to procurement of goods” and “improper or unlawful conduct by employees or officials.”

The targeted institutions include The National Department of Public Works and several departments and municipalities in the provincial Eastern Cape government.

The probes will be conducted by the Special Investigation Unit, which has a broad remit to look into “serious malpractices or maladministration in the administration of the state.”

Yesterday evening, Ramaphosa thanked the media for exposing state capture and admitted he hadn’t realised how bad the corruption was until the “Gupta emails” were published.

(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)