Court proceedings against a string of public servants suspected of robbing the state of millions of taxpayers' rands through claiming subsidised houses they weren't entitled to have got under way.
This follows a massive forensic analysis of housing data by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) which identified more than 31,000 potentially irregular housing subsidies awarded to government employees across the country since 1994.
The audit was ordered by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who announced "significant progress" in dealing with (this) thorn in the flesh" when delivering her budget speech in parliament in May.
Sisulu said then 29 cases had already been finalised with sentences that included repayment of the value of the houses - and that the department expected to rake back nearly R7-million.
She expected about 200 cases against corrupt civil servants to make their way onto the court rolls and hoped this would deter others from trying their luck.
Department of housing spokesperson Ndivuhwo Mabaya told Independent Newspapers the 84 state employees implicated included school teachers and principals, police officers, members of the SANDF as well as municipal councillors and "one or two" mayors.
They come from Gauteng, the Eastern and Western Cape, Mpumalanga , the North West and KwaZulu-Natal.
Some have already appeared in court this month and been found guilty, while others have had their cases postponed.
Still others will appear in court for the first time next week.
Mabaya said the forensic probe had revealed widespread collusion among government officials.
"You need to earn less than R3 500 a month to qualify," he said.
"Some lied, saying they were unemployed when they had jobs. Some colluded with other government officials to get false information (to support their applications).
"That means someone at Home Affairs helped them.
"Or they were supplied with false affidavits saying their ID books or birth certificates had been lost."
Corruption was found right in the heart of the department itself, according to Mabaya. In some cases, where the system reflected someone did not qualify, officials simply over-rode it.
Mabaya said between 1994 and 1999 the department's systems were compromised and lacked the security features they now have.
- Prestoria News
This follows a massive forensic analysis of housing data by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) which identified more than 31,000 potentially irregular housing subsidies awarded to government employees across the country since 1994.
The audit was ordered by Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who announced "significant progress" in dealing with (this) thorn in the flesh" when delivering her budget speech in parliament in May.
Sisulu said then 29 cases had already been finalised with sentences that included repayment of the value of the houses - and that the department expected to rake back nearly R7-million.
She expected about 200 cases against corrupt civil servants to make their way onto the court rolls and hoped this would deter others from trying their luck.
Department of housing spokesperson Ndivuhwo Mabaya told Independent Newspapers the 84 state employees implicated included school teachers and principals, police officers, members of the SANDF as well as municipal councillors and "one or two" mayors.
They come from Gauteng, the Eastern and Western Cape, Mpumalanga , the North West and KwaZulu-Natal.
Some have already appeared in court this month and been found guilty, while others have had their cases postponed.
Still others will appear in court for the first time next week.
Mabaya said the forensic probe had revealed widespread collusion among government officials.
"You need to earn less than R3 500 a month to qualify," he said.
"Some lied, saying they were unemployed when they had jobs. Some colluded with other government officials to get false information (to support their applications).
"That means someone at Home Affairs helped them.
"Or they were supplied with false affidavits saying their ID books or birth certificates had been lost."
Corruption was found right in the heart of the department itself, according to Mabaya. In some cases, where the system reflected someone did not qualify, officials simply over-rode it.
Mabaya said between 1994 and 1999 the department's systems were compromised and lacked the security features they now have.
- Prestoria News
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