Following the dismissal of three officials from the Limpopo Department of Transport – who allegedly defrauded the department of R7.4m – Transport and Community Safety MEC, Nandi Ndalane, has vowed to intensify efforts to crack down on corruption.
"As a department we condemn and despise fraud and corruption. We do not tolerate officials who abuse their positions of responsibility and use them to steal tax-payers' money," she said, warning "would-be criminals" within the department would face the “full might of the law”.
The Limpopo transport department dismissed the officials after an investigation by its Anti-Fraud and Corruption Unit revealed that the R7.4m had been stolen from the traffic summons account.
Joshua Kwapa, spokesperson for the provincial department, said another 10 officials had resigned at the conclusion of the investigative report which showed that traffic officers as well as revenue officers were collecting postal order payments, destined for various traffic stations, from a number of post offices in Limpopo.
According to Kwapa, the officers would redeem those postal orders but fail to deposit the money into the department's bank account.
