Maimane: We need a list of all those who looted during national state of disaster

09 April 2022 - 10:00
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One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has called for those who "looted" during the national state of disaster to be brought to book.
One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has called for those who "looted" during the national state of disaster to be brought to book.
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One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane wants those who “looted” public resources during the national state of disaster to be named and shamed.

The state of disaster, implemented in March 2020 as part of government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, was ended by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.

While many debated the decision, Maimane believes it is time to reflect on the period and prosecute those who used it as an excuse to steal.

“While people were starving, suffering, losing homes and jobs; government officials were eating,” he claimed.

He called for a list to be compiled of “all those who looted during the national state of disaster.”

“We must track who is held to account and who is not held to account by the National Prosecuting Authority .”

He had earlier called for government to respond to the scourges of femicide, gender-based violence, crime and unemployment in the same way it did to the pandemic.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been looking into corruption during the pandemic, including dodgy tenders, kickbacks and irregular expenditure.

Ramaphosa announced the release of the final report of its investigation into procurement by all spheres of government in January.

In February, the Gauteng provincial government served three senior managers in the Department of Health and six senior managers in the department of infrastructure development implicated in the report with letters of suspension.

Former health minister Zweli Mkhize, the darling of SA during the early months of the pandemic, was implicated in a SIU report last year. It found he may have influenced the decision to award a R150m tender to communications company Digital Vibes — a company owned by his associate Tahera Mather — and that some of the proceeds of the contract were paid into his son Dedani’s bank account.

LISTEN | State of disaster could be re-enforced if needs arises, says Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

It concluded he may have contravened the Public Finance Management Act and referred him and his son to the NPA. It also recommended Ramaphosa take “executive action” against him.

Mkhize claimed SIU investigators ignored evidence he presented to them that may have altered their conclusions.

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