South Africa: Water Corruption - Hundreds of Cases Referred for Prosecution, but No Arrests
MPs concerned that criminals are getting away with large-scale fraud and corruption over water and sanitation projects
The Special Investigating Unit has finalised nine of 16 investigations into fraud and corruption in the water and sanitation sector since 2008.
The investigations involve more than R6.2-billion and 350 cases have been referred to the National Prosecution Authority.
But as far as could be determined, not one of the cases has been prosecuted.
Members of Parliament are concerned that few people are being punished as a result of fraud and corruption within the water and sanitation sector, in which R1.1-billion worth of contracts and procurements have been set aside or deemed invalid since 2008.
This follows a presentation to MPs on the Portfolio Committee for Water and Sanitation on Tuesday by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on the status of 16 separate investigations in the sector.
SIU acting chief operations officer Zodwa Xesibe said of the 16 presidential proclamations they had obtained to investigate fraud and corruption in the sector, seven are still active.
The investigations included campaigns within the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), a number of water boards, municipalities and private companies.
Xesibe said so far, 350 cases had been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for prosecution, and there had been 130 referrals for disciplinary action to be taken against government officials.
The SIU does not have powers of prosecution but can institute civil litigation to have contracts set aside and freeze assets.
Xesibe said the total value of matters referred for civil proceedings since 2012 amounted to more than R6.2-billion. So far, R593-million in cash or assets had been recovered, with a further R264-million in the recovery pipeline.
The fatal Rooiwal debacle
One of the active investigations involves the refurbishment of the City of Tshwane's Rooiwal sewage treatment works, where failures by the contractor, the City of Tshwane, the consulting engineer, and implementing agent are likely to have contributed to the death of 29 people in 2023 from the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal.
Investigation into the procurement side of the contract to LTE Consulting and Blackhead Consulting has resulted in 31 criminal matters being referred to the NPA, along with 13 referrals for disciplinary charges, and 39 administrative referrals to the South African Revenue Service, the Construction Industry Development Board, and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.
Additionally, Blackhead Consulting, which is owned by Edwin Sodi - who is one of the accused in the R255-million Free State asbestos case - has been referred to the National Treasury for blacklisting.
When asked by ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe whether Blackhead had in fact been blacklisted yet, Xesibe said she would have to come back to the committee with a response.
The investigation into aspects of corruption in the Rooiwal case has also identified eight officials who have received unexplained wealth, and two private individuals who possibly received bribes from the contractor, stated Xesibe.
Other active investigations involve: the Lepelle Northern Water Board in Limpopo; the DWS Grootfontein and Grootdraai pump station contracts in Mpumalanga; DWS water-saving campaigns involving more than R2.7-billion; water and sanitation services in eThekwini; procurement in the Masilonyane Local Municipality; and the appointment of service providers in the Dihlabeng Local Municipality.
One departmental dismissal
DWS deputy director-general Nthabiseng Fundakubi also presented an overview of disciplinary proceedings against officials. Fundakabi said 22 disciplinary cases were carried over from the 2023/24 financial year, with 27 new cases in 2024/25 and 21 additional cases in 2025/26. To date, 46 of these cases had been finalised, and 24 were still pending.
The cases were divided between non-financial matters such as insubordination, assault, and undermining of authority, and financial misconduct, which covered irregular expenditure, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, fraudulent subsistence and travel claims, awarding bids to suppliers who do not have the highest points, and remunerative work outside the public service.
Of the 32 financial misconduct cases finalised over the last two years, only one resulted in a dismissal and two resulted in suspension without pay and a final warning.
Fundakubi said the number of cases did not reflect the number of individuals involved; for example one official, a director, faced eight disciplinary cases. One of these disciplinary cases involves emergency procurement for pump stations on the Vaal River East sub-systems. Depending on the outcome of the hearing, additional charges may be laid against the director, said Fundakubi.
It appeared from the DWS presentation that the one dismissal over the past two years was that of a manager who was also involved in the Vaal River East emergency procurement.
MPs complain of lack of action
Following the presentations, DA MP Stephen Moore said there were "repeated patterns across the water sector" and "in far too many cases, the people seem to get away with it". Moore said people might be fired, but they were not facing criminal prosecution in cases where "hundreds of millions have been stolen or improperly allocated".
"Every time we touch on these issues we highlight the challenges with regard to actual consequence management."
He suggested the committee hold "a workshop or something" to investigate what could be done, "because at the moment people are getting away with it".
Moore's suggestion was supported by MPs from ActionSA and the ANC.
ANC MP Sello Dithebe said the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation should be called in as they had "all the instruments available" to determine to what extent monitoring and evaluation was implemented.
Malebo Kobe (ActionSA) said 350 cases were referred by the SIU to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). It seemed "somewhere, justice gets miscarried at the NPA", he said.
Kobe said either the Department of Justice or the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development should be "invited" to explain what the NPA was doing.
"It's important that people end up in overalls, in handcuffs or some sort of accountability that is real and tangible and that will serve as a deterrent to further corruption in the sector."
This article originally appeared on Ground Up.