Shady cleaning project and series of killings can’t be swept under the rug

The book must not close on the controversial 2018 cleaning project believed to have sparked multiple murders and at least R9m in public funds going unaccounted for in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Six years after the saga gripped the city in fear, a municipal public accounts committee report recommended that no further action be taken regarding the city’s controversial R21m drain-cleaning project.

This follows a decision by the National Prosecuting Authority and the Hawks to drop their probe into the controversial tender without bringing charges.

But it is not that simple. Glaring red flags were raised by the auditor-general.

The problems in uncovering the truth started when the municipality hired Peyper Forensics for R200,000.

The firm was left hamstrung by a limited budget and scope of work to carry out that should have been seen as a mammoth task.

The firm expected to be presented with payment packs in a numeric electronic format.

Instead, hard copies of s payment vouchers were handed over to be converted and analysed.

With its budget depleted and the scope of work limited, the firm could not analyse the project managers’ bank statements.

Peyper Forensics was unable to analyse the statements as this fell outside the firm’s scope of work and it had already used the maximum hours permitted under the R200,000 budget cap.

The Hawks and Peyper Forensics agreed that analysing the bank statements was essential, and steps were initiated to apply for a subpoena to obtain them.

However, this would have required the municipality to amend the audit, which it chose not to.

Why weren’t the project managers’ bank statements, a likely key piece of the puzzle, thoroughly examined?

Was Peyper Forensics set up for failure?

This is not just about recovering R9m. It is about setting a precedent that corruption will not be tolerated.

It would be taking the easy road to sweep this scandal under the rug.

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