Ekurhuleni council debates corruption allegations in Speaker's office
In February, Eyewitness News reported that a secretary in the office, Salome Lekalakala, allegedly deceived service providers into making payments to her personal bank accounts rather than those of the city.
A sitting of the Ekurhuleni council on 28 March 2024. Picture: Alpha Ramushwana/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The City of Ekurhuleni’s council is on Tuesday debating the fraud and corruption allegations in the Speaker's office, following revelations of gross misconduct.
In February, Eyewitness News reported that a secretary in the office, Salome Lekalakala, allegedly deceived service providers into making payments to her personal bank accounts rather than those of the city.
Investigations revealed that Lekalakala received more than R170,000 after lying to a contractor about being awarded a catering tender.
The secretary was arrested and later admitted to police that she deliberately deceived the contractor.
The Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) was roped in to conduct a thorough investigation into the fraud and corruption allegations in the Speaker's office.
The EMPD investigation uncovered gross misconduct, as secretary in the speaker’s office, Lekalakala made shocking confessions.
After admitting to committing commercial crimes, Lekalakala claimed that other senior city officials were also involved in a string of questionable activities.
In her affidavit, which Eyewitness News has seen, she accused Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) speaker of council Nthabiseng Tshivhenga of benefitting from kickbacks from service providers.
She alleged that Tshivhenga purchased clothing using funds received from kickbacks.
The Ekurhuleni council was meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday and was expected to decide on how to handle these fraud and corruption allegations.