The battle for the soul of Gauteng is far from over. Democratic Alliance leader in the province ,Solly Msimango, is demanding that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi disclose the Fraud Detection Review Report for the fourth quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year.

PROTECTING HIS COMRADES

Msimango accused Lesufi of not finishing the report not only because of a lack of resources but claimed that he was protecting his comrades. "Lesufi has no intention of rooting out corruption. The fraud detection report is critical in assisting the Gauteng Provincial Government to clamp down on and stamp out corruption," he said. Msimango further said that Lesufi's office informed his party that the report could not be completed because of the complexity of the project and a shortage of resources. "They claimed that it required more work to be done than initially anticipated. The same excuse was used during the third quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year. This is unacceptable because corruption can continue unabated with no consequences."

HE IS FAILING

Msimango added that it was ironic for Lesufi to preach about fighting corruption yet fail to complete a report on detecting corruption. "There is a slow rate of investigation into cases related to financial misconduct and economic crime. This leads to a low rate of prosecution when officials are found guilty. If the premier is serious about clamping down on corruption, financial misconduct and other economic crimes, he will ensure that the Fraud Detection Review Report is completed," he said. Lesufi spokesperson, Sizwe Palma, said no formal request has been made by Msimango to the premier. "If he says he has done so, he will need to send us that proof. We are presenting the 4th Quarter report to the GPL now in the morning at 11:30 and one of the matters we are presenting on is ethics; we have sent the presentations to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature," he said.