The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the arrests of senior municipal management linked to alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering in the Kamiesberg Municipality.
According to reports, the arrests of Mr Rufus Beukes and Speaker Melvin Cloete of the Kamiesberg Municipality in Garies are in relation to the procurement of water pumps that were paid for but never delivered.
These arrests lay bare a municipality where corruption has directly stolen from residents and destroyed basic service delivery.
For years, communities have been forced to endure collapsing water and sanitation systems, failing infrastructure, in addition to neglected streets, the dump site and more, while money meant to fix these services was allegedly siphoned off by officials entrusted to protect it.
The DA will monitor the case to ensure that those responsible face the full might of the law so that stolen public funds are recovered and redirected to restore essential services in Kamiesberg.
Corruption cannot continue to be the single biggest barrier to dignity and service delivery in our communities.