Pretoria - Three top officials at the Limpopo Department of Agriculture have been accused of defrauding the department of R2 million of the disaster slush fund that was set aside after the 2013 and 2014 floods that affected scores of farmers.
A chief director, aged 49, director, 46, and assistant director, 63, as well as four farmers based in the Vhembe District have been summoned to appear in the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on March 2.
The officials, whose names are known to the Pretoria News, cannot be named before they appear in court.
The matter has sparked widespread outrage, with the DA in Limpopo threatening to write to the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee for agriculture, Jerry Funani, to force MEC Thabo Mokone to table all disaster relief reports, including related expenditure, despite the fact that he has been him in the position for a few months only.
The incident allegedly took place when the department set aside a budget to assist small farmers who were affected by devastating floods in Vhembe in 2013 and 2014, where the affected farmers were required to submit their invoices to the department in order to be reimbursed.
In January 2013 devastating rains washed out crops that the farmers had planted along the Limpopo River bank and threatened food security in the area, prompting the department to offer relief.
Limpopo Hawks spokesperson Captain Matimba Maluleke said the officials connived with the farmers to submit dodgy invoices to the department.
“It is alleged that the officials from the department connived with the farmers to submit fictitious invoices. As a result, they were successfully processed and the money was paid out.”
He added that the farmers would then withdraw the money paid into their accounts and share it with the officials.
“The department’s forensic investigators discovered the shenanigans in 2020 and opened a case that was later referred to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation,” Maluleke said.
The matter has been under investigation since 2020, until last month, when the suspects were summoned to appear in court.
The DA in the province voiced its frustrations with the matter, blaming the ANC-led government for a “slow response” and “poor monitoring” of the funds.
The party’s acting spokesperson for agriculture and rural development, Katlego Suzan Phala, questioned why the forensic report conducted by the department in 2020 was yet to be tabled before the portfolio committee.
“We find it incomprehensible that department employees worked with recipients to file bogus claims, to split the spoils and deny aid to struggling farmers.
“And this despite the fact that the damage was severe and disaster relief funds are never easy to award at provincial and local level.
“The ANC government’s response to farmers’ pleas for drought and flood relief support is poor and sporadic, and once funds are allocated to the provinces there is a lack of monitoring to ensure that the funds are not looted,” she said.
The process of releasing funds intended for disaster relief was lengthy and the lack of transparency around the allocation of the funds exacerbated the possibility of corruption, she added.
“With increasing load shedding, scarce water resources and erratic weather patterns, food security is more at risk than ever,” Phala warned.
Pretoria News