DA welcomes North West premier's stance on corruption

The Democratic Alliance has welcomed North West Premier Thandi Modise's announcement that fraud and corruption in the province would be rooted out.

"Any serious and honest attempt to root out the systemic fraud and corruption that has become synonymous with the NW [North West] government should be welcomed," DA spokesman Chris Hattingh said in a statement.

"The latest initiative comes after a series of similar almost yearly announcements and repeated launches of fraud hot-lines by every single NW premier during the past 15 years."

During a two-day round table discussion in Rustenburg last month Modise announced that government would strengthen its capacity to implement existing laws on corruption by prosecuting and punishing offenders.

She said both internal and external investigations and prosecution of offenders would take place quickly in order to rid the public service of fraud and corruption.

Hattingh said Modise should study the North West provincial legislature's reports to identify focus areas on which she could release her anti-corruption forces.

Some of these were: the weigh bridge contracts; R904 million housing funds unaccounted for; housing scandals in almost every local municipality; and the more than R3 million spent on the premier's state of the province address.

These would provide "fertile investigation grounds".

Hattingh said the DA hoped that the anti-corruption initiative had nothing to do with the ANC's factional infighting.

"History has shown that after each shift in the delicate NW ANC's political balance a purge of deployed ANC cadres allegedly involved in maladministration or fraud and corruption ensued," he said.