FRESH allegations of inflated billing for construction work never completed or done for the City have surfaced amid a probe into the housing fraud.
A whistle-blower who did not want to be identified yet was set to spill the details of the alleged fraud to the police to help them with a full investigation.
The source said she was approached by a JSE-listed company last year to carry out work for them.
“Nothing looked suspicious and I proceeded with the work. Most of it was related to City projects but the work stopped abruptly later in mid-2022, allegedly after an employee was arrested.
“I was also told that the City employee supported the company.”
On one of the projects the source had to sign off on, she said she was asked by the company to inflate the invoice six times.
“The company said there was a lot of money still available for the projects and they wanted to share it with me. I was also told that the City employee was now back at work and we could now continue with the work.”
The source said she was instructed to invoice two companies -one a construction firm and the other a textile company - that did not exist.
The City said it followed due process in terms of the Labour Relations Act and other relevant policies with regard to the implicated employee.
The fresh allegations come amid a court case in which nine accused appeared on fraud charges related to housing fraud.
Former Mayco member for human settlements Malusi Booi was removed from the portfolio on March 23 following his suspension on 16 March.
Members of the South African Police Service raided Booi’s and six other offices and seized laptops and cellphones as part of the investigation into alleged housing fraud and corruption.
The probe was related to a case opened by crime activist Hanif Loonat related to Tender 243Q, in which The Construction Company (TCC) allegedly inflated costs on repair works to the City's rental housing stock.
On Thursday, Loonat opened a new case at the Cape Town Central police station against the City's Directorate for Safety and Security after he allegedly unearthed “corrupt” payments of up to close to R60 million for housing projects.
“Payments were apparently made to three companies, being a hardware store, a construction company and an estate agent.”
Loonat said the fresh case was related to Tender 341Q.
Cape Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams said he was concerned that even though there were internal mechanisms to detect and stop fraud, the alleged fraud had not been detected.
Meanwhile, seven individuals, including directors and staff members of TCC as well as two City employees, appeared in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Friday on charges of fraud.
Six of the accused are Asif Khan, Abdul Karrim Khan, both directors of the construction company while Uwais Khan, Irfaan Khan, Craig Kannemeyer and Abdulatief Abrahams are employees.
All the Khan brothers are out on a bail of R50 000 each, while Kannemeyer, Abrahams as well as the two City employees, Adam Majiet and Alistair Stanbul, are out on bail of R10 000 each.
During the appearance the State made an application to be allowed to conduct further investigations.
State witness and investigating officer Captain Andre Pekeur testified that detectives needed to comb through cash-flow statements after discrepancies were identified during an earlier analysis.
Cybercrime Unit members also had to download data from laptops and cellphones seized in May last year.
The application case would be heard again on April 20.