Hawks arrest top
Free State govt official on fraud charges
2015-09-22 20:32
Thomas Hartleb, News24
Johannesburg – A senior Free State
government official appeared in court on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding the Moqhaka
municipality of R11m, the Hawks said.
Mokete Victor Duma, 46, and his
co-accused, Samuel Shabalala, 41, were each granted R5 000 bail by the
Kroonstad Magistrate’s Court following their arrest earlier in the day, the
Hawks said in a statement.
They face 127 charges, the main one being
fraud. The other charges are alleged contraventions of the Municipal
Finance Management Act.
Duma was manager of the Moqhaka
municipality, based in Kroonstad, and Shabalala was a service provider to the
municipality, when the alleged crimes were committed. Duma is currently head of
the Free State co-operative governance department.
He allegedly authorised an R11m payment to
Shabalala, who had undertaken to build an airport for Kroonstad after claiming
to have the backing of international funders.
In 2012, Duma appeared in the same court
after he allegedly took out a multi-million-rand loan for a grader and a
landfill compactor for the municipality in 2009.
The municipality never got the machines,
but paid the instalments on the loan until Duma's successor contacted the bank
and had the contract cancelled.
Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Robert
Netshiunda said that case was withdrawn due to a lack of evidence.
Duma left the municipality to work in the
Free State premier’s office.
The current matter was postponed to
October 30.
