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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has submitted a PAIA application to force Premier Panyaza Lesufi to release all 177 forensic investigation reports.

Gauteng residents have the right to know the outcomes of these investigations and the number of completed reports. As the official opposition in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), we have the responsibility to ensure that all the recommendations in these reports are implemented accordingly.

We demand the original reports to assess the extent of corruption within the Gauteng government departments. We don’t want doctored versions of these reports.

If Premier Lesufi had nothing to hide and was genuinely committed to running a clean, transparent government that is free of corruption, he should have handed over these reports to our offices as requested a number of times before including the latest missed deadline which was this past Monday.

For far too long, we have been calling on the Premier to release all the forensic reports, a plea which has fallen on deaf ears. This indicates that the Premier is trying to shield corrupt politicians and officials who are unduly benefiting from tenders issued by the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG).

The DA has also been approached by various whistleblowers who have indicated that they are aware of corruption taking place in the GPG departments. Furthermore, one whistleblower has resorted to leaking parts of a forensic investigation in the Department of Social Development in a bid to expose the rampant corruption that is taking place there.

Corruption is serious and takes away money that could have been used to improve and deliver basic services to our residents.

It is unacceptable that we had to take the drastic step of submitting a PAIA application to receive the forensic reports that should have been made public in the first place.

Once we receive these reports and have had time to study them, we will approach Chapter Nine institutions like the Public Protector, the Auditor-General, and the Public Service Commission (PSC).

A DA government will immediately implement all the recommendations made in forensic reports once an investigation is completed. The reports will also be made public immediately so that our residents know we are serious about clamping down on corruption. The money lost through corrupt activities will be recovered and used to improve service delivery in this province. Protection will also be offered to whistleblowers with information on alleged corrupt practices in government departments.

Issued by Solly Msimanga MPL - Official Leader of the Opposition- Gauteng