Gauteng govt in Covid lockdown payment scandal

Some Gauteng government employees allegedly claimed overtime and exorbitant travel costs fraudulently while the country was in lockdown, the DA in Gauteng said yesterday.

- Itumeleng Mafisa

According to the party, around R2 million was lost through fraudulent overtime claims during the Covid pandemic.

However, Solly Msimanga, the party's leader in Gauteng, said yesterday premier Panyaza Lesufi and the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) were covering this up.

"There are officials who were claiming monies that they did not work for. There are people who were claiming travelling during Covid, which was more than normal," he said.

Msimanga said legislature secretary Peter Skosana ordered an investigation into this matter.

However, he was told to stop the investigation to allegedly save the ANC from bad publicity before the elections.