The City of Johannesburg has formally suspended 11 officials from the Revenue Shared Services Centre (RSSC) who were arrested on charges of fraud‚ theft and corruption last week.

This comes after these officials attempted to return to work following their appearance at the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court on Monday‚ Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba said on Saturday.

He said the implicated officials would now undergo an internal disciplinary process‚ in line with the City’s prescribed policies and relevant national legislation.

“Since their arrest last week‚ a number of other persons have been implicated in similar wrongdoing. The City’s Group Forensic Investigation Unit‚ in partnership with the Hawks‚ is conducting further investigations and more arrests are expected soon.

“To date‚ it is alleged that those implicated in wrongdoing have defrauded the City of about R2.5-million. In some instances‚ individual property owners colluded with the officials to inflate refunds due to them. As the investigations continue‚ this number is expected to rise‚” Mashaba said.

The City would work with the Asset and Forfeiture Unit (AFU) to recover monies allegedly stolen by those implicated‚ he added.

•Credit (except headline): Business Day SA