The courts just made a big change in South Africa. They said city workers must pay back money when they waste it. This happened at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Think about Nelson Mandela Bay, a big city area. It had a huge transport project that cost billions. Because of this new rule, many workers there might have to give back lots of cash.
Before this, lawyers used to say cities could only get money back if they could prove they lost it. But Judge Schippers disagreed. He looked at the law and found something different.
The judge said the rules are clear. If city workers mishandle money on purpose or by accident, they have to pay it back. It doesn't matter if the city lost money or not. The law wants to ensure that city workers handle money carefully.
This case started in 2016. It looked at a transport project that received R2 billion from the government. The project turned into a mess. People spent money badly, and some even broke the law.
A company called Erastyle got a contract worth R6 million, which later grew to R7 million. They never had to compete with other companies to get this deal. The rules say they should have.
Several city leaders got in trouble. The court told them to pay back different amounts of money. Some must give back R5.2 million, others R1.39 million, and another group R984,197.
The story gets worse. The government investigated about 300 companies that worked on this project and found that many bills were bigger than they should have been.
Johann Mettler, who runs Tshwane City today, helped uncover these problems. When he worked at Nelson Mandela Bay, he told the government about all the wasted money—nobody had done that before him.
None of the city workers who got in trouble wanted to speak up in court. They stayed quiet when asked to explain what happened.
Think about Nelson Mandela Bay, a big city area. It had a huge transport project that cost billions. Because of this new rule, many workers there might have to give back lots of cash.
Before this, lawyers used to say cities could only get money back if they could prove they lost it. But Judge Schippers disagreed. He looked at the law and found something different.
The judge said the rules are clear. If city workers mishandle money on purpose or by accident, they have to pay it back. It doesn't matter if the city lost money or not. The law wants to ensure that city workers handle money carefully.
This case started in 2016. It looked at a transport project that received R2 billion from the government. The project turned into a mess. People spent money badly, and some even broke the law.
A company called Erastyle got a contract worth R6 million, which later grew to R7 million. They never had to compete with other companies to get this deal. The rules say they should have.
Several city leaders got in trouble. The court told them to pay back different amounts of money. Some must give back R5.2 million, others R1.39 million, and another group R984,197.
The story gets worse. The government investigated about 300 companies that worked on this project and found that many bills were bigger than they should have been.
Johann Mettler, who runs Tshwane City today, helped uncover these problems. When he worked at Nelson Mandela Bay, he told the government about all the wasted money—nobody had done that before him.
None of the city workers who got in trouble wanted to speak up in court. They stayed quiet when asked to explain what happened.
