Confess and walk free
Fraudsters guilty of pocketing housing subsidies could soon get away without criminal records if they confess to their crimes, according to a proposed amnesty by the department of housing.
Housing director-general Itumeleng Kotsoane said a presidential proclamation would allow for the amnesty and that this would be offered on a selective, case-by-case basis - and only to those who come forward and confess.
The guilty would also be required to pay back the stolen money.
Kotsoane could not say when the proclamation would be announced, but hinted that if it only happened next year "the auditor-general's report would not be kind to us".
Kotsoane's announcement follows a damning report by Auditor-General Shauket Fakie earlier this year on housing subsidies at provincial level.
The report found that the housing subsidy system, in some instances, did not accurately record beneficiaries and was open to abuse.
While more than R2,5-billion had been handed out in the subsidy scheme between 1994 and 2004, Fakie identified irregular applications involving R323-million.
This prompted housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu to give the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) the go-ahead to sweep her department clean of its crooks.
Kotsoane said the amnesty would be effected in conjunction with a national probe by the SIU which has so far yielded 88 cases for investigation.
He denied that it would send out the wrong message to crooks.
"Our intention is to try to clear the cloud that has forever cast doubt on our credibility and our department's housing subsidy system," he said. Read more
Housing director-general Itumeleng Kotsoane said a presidential proclamation would allow for the amnesty and that this would be offered on a selective, case-by-case basis - and only to those who come forward and confess.
The guilty would also be required to pay back the stolen money.
Kotsoane could not say when the proclamation would be announced, but hinted that if it only happened next year "the auditor-general's report would not be kind to us".
Kotsoane's announcement follows a damning report by Auditor-General Shauket Fakie earlier this year on housing subsidies at provincial level.
The report found that the housing subsidy system, in some instances, did not accurately record beneficiaries and was open to abuse.
While more than R2,5-billion had been handed out in the subsidy scheme between 1994 and 2004, Fakie identified irregular applications involving R323-million.
This prompted housing minister Lindiwe Sisulu to give the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) the go-ahead to sweep her department clean of its crooks.
Kotsoane said the amnesty would be effected in conjunction with a national probe by the SIU which has so far yielded 88 cases for investigation.
He denied that it would send out the wrong message to crooks.
"Our intention is to try to clear the cloud that has forever cast doubt on our credibility and our department's housing subsidy system," he said. Read more
posted by Jopie Fourie at 11:02 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home