Cape Town – Chris Pappas, the mayor of uMngeni Municipality and the Democratic Alliance candidate for Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, is facing allegations that he helped his fiancé secure a tourism contract with the municipality.
Former DA provincial leader, Sizwe Mchunu, has asked the Public Protector to investigate claims that Pappas’ fiancé received R100 000 in funding for his tourism business.
JUST IN: A complaint has been lodged with the Public Protector regarding the aspirant KZN Premier, Umngeni Municipality Mayor Chris Pappas, over allegations of excessive grants to a newly established NPO solely owned by his fiance. pic.twitter.com/L6bOw7nq2T
— XOLI (@Mbhele_Xoli) September 27, 2023
Pappas has denied the allegations, stating that the business in question was only registered recently and that the municipality had never put out a tourism tender.
“So it’s impossible for this particular company to have got tenders two years ago as they’re talking about. Number two, we’ve never put out a tourism tender as the municipality so there’s no money that happened to move. Number three, the organisation that they talk about, it’s actually a community tourism organisation that… has been getting money from the municipality for years, before I even started,” IOL quoted him as saying.
He also noted that the organisation in question had been receiving funding from the municipality for years.
These corruption allegations surfaced shortly after Pappas was named the DA’s candidate for premier of the province.
Mchunu, who left the DA to join the ANC, alleges preferential treatment for Pappas’ fiancé and claims that this warrants a nepotism and corruption inquiry against Pappas and the municipality.
Mchunu based his complaint on online allegations, defending the need to investigate serious claims brought to the public domain.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@Mbhele_Xoli
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
