President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe several municipalities and government departments for fraud and corruption.

The national public works department‚ the KwaZulu-Natal department of transport and two Eastern Cape metro municipalities - Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City - are among the entities under investigation.

In a statement issued on Friday‚ the Presidency said Ramaphosa authorised the SIU to investigate allegations of “serious irregularities in relation to procurement of goods and/or services in a manner that was not fair‚ competitive‚ transparent‚ equitable or cost-effective contrary to applicable legal framework”.

The SIU was also tasked with investigating:

• Improper or unlawful conduct by employees or officials;

• Unlawful appropriation of expenditure or public money or property;

• Unlawful‚ irregular or unapproved acquisitive act‚ transaction‚ measure or practice having a bearing upon State property;

• Intentional or negligent loss of public money or damage to public property; and

• Unlawful or improper conduct by any person‚ which has caused or may cause serious harm to the interests of the public or any category thereof.

According to the statement‚ Ramaphosa wants 12 government agencies investigated‚ including the Mopani district municipality and the Media‚ Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT Seta).

In the Eastern Cape‚ Ramaphosa has set the SIU on to the provincial planning and treasury department‚ the Eastern Cape Development Corporation‚ the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency‚ the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality‚ the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality‚ the OR Tambo District Municipality and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.

Specific details of the alleged wrongdoing were not provided.