Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has shot down claims of hiding forensic evidence from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), insisting that his government is transparent.
Lesufi was accused of withholding the forensic reports that allegedly showed corruption and poor management at the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD).
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum have accused Lesufi of playing a “central role in the covering-up of rampant corruption, money laundering, and fraud” inside the provincial government.
The ongoing scandal involves the GDSD, where current MEC Faith Mazibuko has secretly reinstated 13 officials implicated in various forensic investigations since 2016, following their previous suspensions.
Responding to this, Lesufi said the people behind the accusations were pushing an agenda and wanted to force them to release documents that they did not have.
Lesufi was addressing the media in Johannesburg on Wednesday on the first 100 days since the establishment of the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU).
He mentioned that they were finalising the engagement of relevant state institutions to compile all the reports from the previous administration.
“I must emphasise to date, there is no single report either from the SIU, public protector and auditor-general or public service commission that is outstanding and that was finalised before we took office as this leadership.
“We have subsequently requested the director general of the department to consolidate reports that were done by MECs in the previous administration so that all the reports can be made available by this Biannual State of Ethics Report,” he said.
He added that the last report was released in 2022 and once all investigation bodies have been consulted, the next report will be released in the next four weeks.
“We want to emphasise this point, there are no outstanding reports that have been commissioned either by SIU or the public protector that this provincial government is hiding.
“We are ready, we have received a request through the PAIA Act for the release of the information. We have made this request to the DG with the custodian,” he stated.
Furthermore, he said the DG will make a proper announcement soon.
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