Hawks swoop on George Municipality

GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - Since the Hawks' shock raid on George Municipality on Monday 23 April, speculation has been rife that the heads of the municipal manager and the mayor are set to roll.

Laptops, cellphones and boxes full of documents were carried out by policemen of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and Public Order Police (Pop) while onlookers and opposition councillors crowded the marked vehicles. With cameras aimed at the entrance to the municipality, journalists of different media houses were ready to snap away after hours of waiting.

Why the raid was being conducted is anybody's guess. The Hawks confirmed that the homes of "certain people of interest" were searched. George Herald knows that one of these homes is the residence of Mayor Melvin Naik.

In a press statement by the Minister of Local Government, Anton Bredell, he welcomed the intervention and said the Hawks are acting on his request, investigating alleged irregularities in the municipalities of both George and Bitou (Plettenberg Bay).

Boxes with documents were carried out in the arms of policemen from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) during a raid at the George Municipality.

"It is a real pity that public officials seem to forget in whose interests they serve. Our message has always been that if your hands are caught in the till in this province, then we will not hesitate to chop them off, no matter whose hands they are," said Bredell.

He said his department has a long history of "not fearing to step in when there are concerns about the way municipalities are being run", and referred to similar investigations in Oudtshoorn and Kannaland municipalities by the Hawks in the past. Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said George Municipality is cooperating with the investigation.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Philani Nkwalase confirmed that a search and seizure was conducted, following alleged fraud and corruption on procurement processes and the awarding of tenders.

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