Former municipal officials ordered by SIU to pay back R400k

Three former Matzikama Local Municipality employees have been ordered by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) to pay back R400 000 which the municipality lost due to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) tender fraud.

SIU INVESTIGATE MUNICIPAL CORRUPTION

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A probe into the municipality over allegations of corruption, malpractice and maladministration uncovered collusion between former municipal officials Aldrich Hendricks, Isak Edward Jenner, Jafta Booysen and Duneco CC owner Nicolaas Klazen.

Duneco CC was awarded a tender to supply gloves and masks without following procedure in April 2020.

However at the start of the hard lockdown in March 2020, the then acting Municipal Manager Lionel Phillips, assembled a Covid-19 team to handle the procurement of PPE’s. A tender was put out and four quotations were received.

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Phillips was subsequently replaced by Hendricks on the 1st April 2020 and on the 2nd, the tender was given to Duneco. The SIU investigation revealed Klazen made payment to Hendricks wife before the tender was awarded.

TWO OF THE ACCUSED NOW WORK IN OTHER MUNICIPALITIES

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In May 2022, the Hawks arrested the three municipal officials and Klazen. They were charged with fraud for allegedly colluding with a service provider and released on R5000 bail.

The municipal officials resigned after the SIU investigation commenced. Booysen and Hendricks are now employed as municipal managers at the Laingsburg Local Municipality and Prince Albert Local Municipality in the Western Cape respectively.

The matter will be continue at the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, in July 2023.

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