Hawks raid homes of officials allegedly linked to R700m corruption at eThekwini Municipality

The Hawks raided 15 Durban homes in a R700m corruption probe.

• The Hawks raided 15 properties in an ongoing investigation into corruption to the tune of R700m at the eThekwini Municipality Water and Sanitation Unit. 
• The R700m was allegedly charged for services that were never carried out. 
• No arrests were made.

The Hawks raided 15 Durban homes of officials from the eThekwini Municipality Water and Sanitation Unit and service providers on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into fraud, corruption and money laundering.

According to Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, the National Clean Audit Task Team of the Hawks discovered in June that R200 million had allegedly been siphoned from the municipality. 

Mulaudzi said it has now been determined that a further R500 million has allegedly been embezzled from the department. 

“It is alleged the R700 million are proceeds of crime derived from service providers who were supposed to be rendering services for the water and sanitation unit and claimed to have provided such services while they were not carried out. Misrepresentations were allegedly made to the municipality and in some instances no authorised signatures as per requirement for approval were endorsed on the invoices,” Mulaudzi said.

Despite the alleged falsification of documents, payments were approved and significant amounts of money were allegedly channelled to officials for their own benefit. 

During the operation – which also comprised the Hawks’ Digital Forensic Laboratory, Priority Crime Specialised Investigation officials, SAPS Crime Scene Management and the National Intervention Unit – various items, including a number of laptops, desktops, hard drives, cellphones, bank cards from different banks, company details, invoices and company registration documents, were seized for analysis.   

No arrests have been made.

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