Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba on Monday suspended two employees who worked for the City’s group finance department for allegedly fraudulently transferring R800 000 to a company of attorneys.

Mashaba said that the two were part of a syndicate of internal and external individuals, who swindled money from a customer’s account to an attorney’s trust account, before requesting the payment thereof.

He said that the City will be laying criminal charges against both the internal and external individuals in the syndicate and will also prioritise the process of recovering the money from the attorneys.

Mashaba said that shameless, outright looting had been the norm in Johannesburg for years.

"I am disappointed to learn that there are officials who are still involved in and engaged in corrupt activities. This is despite the fact that we continuously educate employees about fraud and corruption, and despite the fact that we have made it clear that corruption will not be tolerated in the City of Johannesburg," Mashaba said.

"We have zero tolerance for corruption and we will continue to vigorously pursue every allegation of corruption in collaboration with institutions such as the Hawks and other organisations within the criminal justice system."

Mashaba has been on a crusade to rid the City of corruption and has fired and seen the arrest of a number of officials since he took office in August 2016.