SIU has 'very sharp teeth' and is able to recover billions, says agency head

CAPE TOWN - The head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says the agency now has “very sharp teeth” and is able to recover billions.
 
Advocate Andy Mothibi was briefing Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (SCOPA) on Tuesday, about the SIU’s investigations and an update on the various proclamations by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
 
The Presidency also briefed SCOPA about the SIU’s investigations that have netted over billions of rands. 
 
Mothibi told Parliament that as much as there are several investigations outstanding, they’ve managed to recover billions of rands.

But Mothibi agreed that R3 billion in recoveries is relatively small compared to the value of the contracts in question that amount to R120 billion.
 
"We believe we’ve got very sharp teeth to follow up and execute and prosecute the civil recoveries. There we’ve got full power, legal power to executive and ensure that that happens."
 
Matsietsi Mekoa, Presidency Deputy Director General responsible for processing SIU reports, says officials implicated in the various state entities are mostly in middle management.

"It tells you the story through the analogy of an Oreo cookie that the sweetness is right in the middle."

But Members of Parliament still warned The Presidency to implement the SIU’s recommendations or risk incurring wasteful expenditure.