R30 Million PPE Scandal: Pressure Mounts For Implicated KZN Government Officials To Face The Music

SANDILE MOTHA

KNIVES are out and battle lines drawn over mass corruption in the procurement of personal protective equipment saga that has rocked KwaZulu-Natal provincial government.

The grand scale corruption was uncovered by a forensic ‘KZN COVID-19 Procurement Disclosure Report’ released last month by KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala.

The probe was triggered by whistleblowers amid widespread public outcry over the procurement of personal protective equipment for various provincial departments as a response to COVID-19 outbreak.

The provincial department of Social Development was the worst culprit with more than R30 million of taxpayers’ money said to have gone down the drain in corrupt deals.

The money was allegedly siphoned off by officials who colluded with service providers in the corruption frenzy.

Now, opposition parties in the provincial legislature are up in arms, calling for a full blown criminal investigation conducted by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

“While the DA welcomes the