Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi suspended two community safety officials amid financial irregularities
The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety says Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s decision to suspend two community safety officials amid a financial irregularities probe reflects a strong commitment to ethical governance.
Provincial community safety head of department (HOD), Nontsikelelo Sisulu, and the department’s chief financial officer, Mduduzi Malope, were suspended by the premier with immediate effect on Tuesday.
Suspensions
Lesufi explained that the suspensions are a precautionary measure to ensure fair and unbiased investigations..
The portfolio committee said the chairperson, Bandile Masuku, had taken note of the suspensions.
“The Committee welcomes the decisive intervention by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, which reflects a strong commitment to ethical governance, transparency, and accountability within the Provincial administration.”
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‘Irregularities’
It said both the HOD and CFO regularly appeared before the Committee to present reports on the department’s financial performance.
“No indications of such irregularities were evident during these engagements, raising important questions about the effectiveness of current oversight mechanisms.
“In response, the Committee is calling on the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to review and strengthen its Sector Oversight Model to ensure more rigorous scrutiny of departmental financial performance, “it said.
Accountability measures
The committee said it will also implement more robust accountability measures and intensify efforts to detect and prevent financial mismanagement.
“The Committee will continue to monitor this matter closely and will engage the premier’s office and other relevant authorities to ensure that appropriate action is taken and that public trust is restored.”
Forensic reports
The committee said it will also ask for a full briefing on the forensic report and explore further measures to strengthen financial controls and accountability.
On Sunday, Lesufi announced that he had removed or reshuffled several heads of departments within the Gauteng provincial government due to a series of under expenditure and underperformance by departments, lifestyle audits, and failures to meet performance targets in some instances.
The shake-up comes after forensic investigation reports were released, detailing corruption and maladministration.
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