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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling for all officials, who were charged with fraud, contravening the Diamond Act and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and who are still under the employ of the provincial government, to be placed on immediate precautionary suspension. This is in relation to the arrest of former head of department, Patrick Seboko, the senior project team manager, Tebogo Basil Gaborone, the chief director of trade and sector development, Lizette Wyngaard, and the acting chief financial officer (CFO), Kuberin Packirisamy.

In addition, we are calling on the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to place the Department of Economic Development under administration.

The department is riddled with corruption dating back at least a decade. Many role players are implicated in numerous corruption-related allegations, stretching from the missing diamonds to the bed factory, the Maloof Money Cup turned Kimberley Diamond Cup, the Flamingo Park Race, and many more.

Many of the corruption-related allegations also overlap with the time of former MEC of Economic Development, John Block, who is currently in prison on other criminal charges.

It is obvious that wherever this department gets involved, money gets wasted and no real economic development or growth takes place. It is clear that this department is rotten to the core.

If Dr Saul remains serious about fighting corruption, then he will waste no time in seeing to it that those implicated in the diamond case are immediately removed from any position of influence within provincial government.

He also needs to break the chain of corruption within the Economic Development Department, which has been captured by self-enriching thieves. In this respect, Dr Saul must urgently work towards getting cabinet to invoke a Section 100(1)(b) intervention.

The DA will closely monitor this case and developments within the respective department. We also reiterate our call for whistleblowers to be protected, as more and more details relating to high level corruption in the Northern Cape come to light.

Issued by DA Northern Cape Provincial Spokesperson on Finance Fawzia Rhoda