Seventeen officials at the Ekurhuleni licensing department on the East Rand have been suspended for allegedly being involved in fraud and corruption.

The department’s executive manager, Sekwati Makhafola, says the suspensions came after an undisclosed amount of money went missing from the department’s coffers.

Meanwhile, 31 officials from the KwaZulu-Natal department of finance and economic development are to face prosecution for fraud. The officials are alleged to have defrauded the KwaZulu-Natal Rehabilitation Fund.

The fund was set up in the 1990’s to assist black businesses affected by violence. Government undertook to underwrite about R20 000 worth of loans on behalf of the applicants. It is alleged that the officials made fraudulent applications on behalf of others. They also allegedly forged the signature of the fund’s chairperson.