Cape Town - The Oudtshoorn municipality has temporarily suspended seven employees following allegations that they stole power cables.
The suspended employees who are part of the infrastructure department in the municipality were reported after they allegedly tried to sell more than 180kg of copper cables to a local scrap metal company.
The owner of the business reportedly notified the municipality, and provided municipal officials with CCTV footage.
Oudtshoorn municipal manager Walter Hendricks said the municipality is currently preparing charge sheets for disciplinary hearings against the employees.
“Once the charge sheets are prepared, criminal charges will also be filed against the employees,” Hendricks said.
Forum for Anti-corruption and Service Delivery Oudtshoorn (Faso) founder, Emile Cupido, said corruption and maladministration were rife in the municipality.
“Faso would like to know why are these workers suspended when according to allegations they were caught on camera where the cables were seen being sold.
Our municipality has now become an employment hub for criminals, and fraud and maladministration go forth without anyone taking accountability for their deeds.
“We also would like to know if these seven employees are suspended with salaries,” he said.
Oudtshoorn Mayor Chris Macpherson said there will be no hesitation in taking action against employees found guilty of misconduct.
“We are well aware that the suspension of employees places a greater workload on departments, but the message must be clear that action will be taken against any employee found guilty of misconduct or criminality,“ said Macpherson.
Cape Times