PUBLIC Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released investigation reports during a virtual media briefing on Monday, 13 December.
She said the eight new reports brought the number of released reports over the last year to 94.
Mkhwebane said investigations dealt with service delivery and governance matters, including scandals relating to personal protective equipment.
“In some, we helped a considerable number of individuals and organs of state clear their names, while in others we made findings of maladministration and improper conduct and took appropriate remedial action,” she said.
Mkhwebane said her office investigated two allegations of improper conduct and maladministration relating to the wrongful burial of two people by the Sol Plaatjie Municipality in the Northern Cape in 2013 and 2019.
She said it was found that the municipality failed to ensure graves were properly marked, which led to the Koloane and Louw families burying their loved ones in the wrong graves.
Another investigation that was completed was the alleged breach of the Executive Ethics Code by KZN Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu.
She said the investigation came after a complaint was laid by a member of the provincial legislature on the back of a Sunday Times article in November 2019.
“In this article, it was alleged that a forged letter from the car manufacturing company Mercedes Benz South Africa had been created to enable the MEC to use hired vehicles at a huge expense to the state,” she said.
Mkhwebane said her office’s investigation found there was no evidence that the department was involved in forging the letter.
“The origin of this letter could not be determined during the investigation,” she said.
