Mayor issues warning to corrupt officials
Executive Mayor appoints new head of internal investigations unit
“I have a message for the corrupt within the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). You have operated for a long time with people looking the other way. Those days are over.”
This was the message from the CoJ’s Executive Mayor, councillor Herman Mashaba, when he announced the name of the head of the new internal investigations unit.
Residents from Roodepoort and surrounding areas have been complaining for quite some time about very high water and electricity bills as well as numerous other service delivery issues. The announcement by Mashaba will fill many of these residents with new hope.
Just after his election as the new mayor, Mashaba declared corruption as public enemy number one and promised he would do anything in his power to make sure it is addressed. “I can now tell you I am inundated with allegations, forensic reports and questionable tenders which have purposely been hidden from the public eye. Many of these investigations are at advanced stages and the results will be shared soon,” said Mashaba.
Mashaba will be changing the direction in which the CoJ is heading by moving away from paying lip-service and taking action. “Words alone will not defeat corruption, only brave actions will,” he said.
The head of the new internal investigations unit is Shadrack Sibiya. Sibiya has had a distinguished career as a detective Captain at Interpol, he has served as the Chief Special Investigator of the Free State Branch of the Scorpions, and as a Brigadier at the head of the commercial crimes unit of the Hawks.
“I have total confidence in Mr Sibiya. He possesses the integrity, experience and courage to perform his role in a fashion that will restore hope amongst our residents again,” Mashaba said.
Sibiya will design and set up an anti-corruption unit. He will also look into all investigations conducted in the city and its entities to ensure findings were correct. The tenders that have been awarded will also be investigated to identify those awarded to relatives of council employees, city employees or public representatives themselves.
Mashaba concluded, “There are many good civil servants and they have my assurance they will be protected. My message to the corrupt people in CoJ is this, you have operated long enough with people looking the other way. Those days are over and your time is up. It is now time to run, but trust me, you will not be able to hide.”
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