Seven licensing centre officials arrested in Johannesburg
Another seven licensing centre officials have been arrested by the Hawks on charges of fraud and corruption.
Four of the suspects are from the Martindale Bulk Licensing Department, while the remaining three are from the Langlaagte Licensing Department.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba says this bring the total number of licensing centre officials arrested to date to 15.
"The remaining 100 licensing officials who were identified in the forensic report will be arrested in coming weeks," says Mashaba.
Mashaba says the city also acted swiftly in ensuring that 72 of the allegedly corrupt licensing centre officials were suspended from their jobs.
All 72 officials were given an opportunity to provide reasons as to why they should not be suspended, however their reasons were found to be unsatisfactory.
"We hope to conduct the disciplinary hearings as soon as possible. Due legal process will be followed at all times," says Mashaba.
Between January 2008 and February 2016, 972 alleged fraudulent transactions at a total value of R14 717 444.00 were identified within the City of Johannesburg (CoJ).
The schedule below summaries the different CoJ Licensing Centres, the total amount of transactions and the total Rand value allegedly lost from each centre:
"I would like to thank General Shadrack Sibiya and his team for their exemplary work, and their 'no fear or favour' approach to rooting out corruption in this City. Working closely with the Hawks, SAPS, the Prosecuting Authority, JMPD and the residents of this City, we will continue to wage war on corruption," says Mashaba.
Mashaba is also asking residents for patience while the city continues to identify corrupt officials.
"We have hired an additional 40 new staff members, and staff members from other sections within the Licensing Department will be deployed to vacant positions so as to minimise the effect on operations at the centres," says Mashaba.