ANC in Gauteng accused of 'political interference' in R4m COVID-19 fraud claims investigation

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng has been accused of “political interference” for trying to stop an investigation into fraudulent benefit claims amounting to R4 million.

In a high court affidavit, former secretary to the Gauteng legislature Peter Skosana detailed how the ANC’s leadership tried to delay his investigation.

Skosana sued the legislature for breach of contract after it prematurely terminated his contract without paying a settlement.

The affidavit was made public by the Democratic Alliance (DA) during a media briefing in Johannesburg earlier on Monday.

During the COVID-19 period, when the country was under a hard lockdown, the Gauteng legislature paid out 38 subsistence and travel claims amounting to R4 million.

In his affidavit, Skosana said there were a number of discrepancies in these claims.

As accounting officer, Skosana said he instituted disciplinary actions against the 34 implicated employees which he was pressured to drop by the ANC.

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga added that the allegations by Skosana required further investigation.

“There is also an issue of the misuse of power and an unjust system that is being applied here, where it looks like there are holy cows, there are those that will be protected to a point where the Premier will actually call those reports from the department into his office, centralising those into his office," said Msimanga.