WeeklySA_AdminDODGY: No progress from National Prosecuting Authority in at least another 18 cases with a further 21 under investigation by SAPS and the Hawks…
By Raymond Joseph
Two Soweto men appeared in the Kimberley Regional Court this week, facing charges including fraud and theft in only the second case involving the misappropriation of lottery funds to be prosecuted.
This is despite at least 19 matters being referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with no progress in 18 to date. Some referrals date back to April 2022.
Then there are a further 21 matters under investigation by the Hawks and SAPS. Some of these cases date back to 2020, when then Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel handed over a dossier to the police regarding alleged corruption linked to former senior National Lotteries Commission (NLC) COO Phillemon Letwaba and his family and friends.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) earlier this year told Parliament that it was investigating dodgy grants of over R2-billion, and this figure could increase as it was still receiving new tip-offs.
Jeremane Petrus Sedibe and Malesela Johannes Khoza appeared in the Kimberley Regional Court on Monday in connection with a grant of R885 000 for a non-existent GBV project in the Northern Cape.
After several earlier postponements, the matter was set down for trial from 1 to 3 September. But it was postponed once again to allow the pair to brief new counsel, after they told the court that they had parted ways with their lawyer.
The case was postponed to 7 October, and Sedibe’s bail of R15 000 and Khosa’s of R10 000 were extended.
They are yet to plead to a litany of charges that include fraud, theft, forgery, uttering, money laundering and cybercrimes. The charge sheet describes how they allegedly submitted false information and documents to secure funding, and then misappropriated the funds for their personal use.
Sedibe is also charged with contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act for engaging in transactions he knew, or should have known, were proceeds of unlawful activities (fraud or theft). This was allegedly done to conceal the nature and source of the funds by transferring money between accounts and spending it on personal expenses.
Other dodgy lottery funding involving Sedibe includes a R9-million grant to Motheo Sports and Entertainment Foundation for a sports centre in Soweto that was never built. When GroundUp visited the site, we found an empty property that was being used by residents as a rubbish dump.
The only other lottery corruption case successfully prosecuted was against Christopher Tshivule, who was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for fraud involving a R1.6-million grant allocated to The Message, a non-profit organisation.
Tshivule was originally charged with fraud along with three other people, including Fulufhelo Promise Kharivhe, who, along with her husband Collins Tshisimba, have been named by the SIU as kingpins in the looting of the lottery.
But charges against the others were dropped after they had made successful representations to the NPA.
Mashudu Netshikweta, who heads up the SIU team investigating corruption involving NLC grants to non-profits, told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) in May this year that Sedibe was allegedly involved in at least six non-profit organisations that had siphoned money from the NLC in various provinces.
In the Northern Cape, Sedibe used an organisation to secure R885 000 for a “supposed gender violence programme” in a remote village, he said, referring to the case currently before the court in Kimberley.
An amount of R500,000 was “successfully paid into the bank account provided by Kgatelopele on 1 December 2021, with Sedibe and Khosa listed as co-signatories on the bank confirmation letter”, according to the Kimberley charge sheet.
But the money was used not in terms of the grant agreement with the NLC. Instead, Sedibe and Khosa allegedly “submitted false documents” and information to justify expenditure so that the second tranche of R385,000 could be released.
Netshikweta told SCOPA that officials from the NLC Northern Cape provincial office had aided Sedibe.
A monitoring and evaluation officer flagged the progress report submitted by Sedibe as fraudulent and provided details of what had transpired to the provincial manager, said Netshikweta. But five days later, the report was altered to confirm that Sedibe had delivered on the project.
The grant was signed off by Aobakwe Gaobuse, who was then NLC acting provincial manager, according to the charge sheet. Abobakwe was one of seven staff members named in a search and seizure warrant when the SIU and Hawks swooped on the NLC’s Kimberley office in March 2022.
NLC documents were also found during a search of the home that Abobakwe shared with her live-in partner, who was the provincial legal officer.
Netshikweta told SCOPA earlier this year: “In the Free State, he [Sedibe] used a different non-profit organisation and received R1.4 million, which he embezzled entirely.”
And, he said, Sedibe had allegedly “repeated the same scheme” in Limpopo and received R1.2-million for another gender-based violence project, “which he also embezzled entirely”. –GroundUp
MIRROR Briefs
R56m COCAINE BUST
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has made a cocaine bust of nearly R56 million after a vessel was intercepted off the east coast of Durban.
According to the revenue service, the bust was as a result of a collaborative intelligence-driven operation.
“A Customs Marine Patrol vessel intercepted a cargo ship near the Fairway Bouy at outer anchorage approximately 4 nautical miles off the east coast of Durban and escorted it to its berth in the harbour. Customs enforcement officers boarded the vessel and located a number of containers identified prior to the arrival of the vessel as posing a potential risk for smuggling.
“The inspection resulted in the discovery of 25 large bricks of suspected cocaine hidden in the refrigeration units of several containers. A field drug test was conducted and positively identified the goods as cocaine of a very high quality suitable for further dilution and expansion into larger volumes for illicit distribution,” SARS said.
The goods have been seized and handed over to the South African Police Service for “further safe keeping, investigation and prosecution”.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the bust came as a result of collaboration with Brazilian counterparts.
“It is such collaboration that communicates concrete cooperation within BRICS countries that deal a heavy blow against organised crime syndicates’’. – SAnews
WORLD-RENOWNED DESIGNER DIES.
Designer Giorgio Armani, who helped to put Italy at the forefront of global fashion and dressed Hollywood stars, has died at the age of 91, according to the company that he founded and led for five decades.
Armani combined the flair of a designer with business acumen as he directed a company generating some 2.3 billion euros in annual turnover.
“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” the fashion house, which has remained proudly independent for 50 years, said in a statement.
“We, the employees and the family members, who have always worked alongside Mr. Armani, commit to protecting what he built and to carrying his company forward in his memory, with respect, responsibility, and love.”
The designer had been unwell for some time and was forced to drop out of his group’s shows at Milan’s Men’s Fashion Week in June, the first time he had missed one of his catwalk events.
A funeral chamber will be opened on Saturday and Sunday in Milan, the city he made his home, to allow well-wishers to pay their respects. His funeral will be held on Monday in private. – Fullview
JAGERSFONTEIN TRAGEDY TRIAL
Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in collaboration with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), have confirmed that criminal proceedings are set to commence following the 2022 tragic collapse of the Jagersfontein Fine Tailings Storage Facility (FTSF). The collapse of the FTSF caused severe devastation to the town of Jagersfontein in the Free State, claiming two lives and leaving one person still unaccounted for. The first court appearance is scheduled for 10 September 2025 at the Jagersfontein Magistrate’s Court. It is expected that the case will be transferred to a higher court the same day, paving the way for a full trial.
The release of processed mine tailings, which are waste materials left over after valuable minerals are extracted during the mining process, resulted in extensive destruction to houses, roads, and other infrastructure, while large areas of natural and agricultural land, as well as surrounding watercourses, were covered in waste material.
According to the departments, the DWS Dam Safety Regulation Directorate conducted an extensive technical study into the cause of the failure. “This included site visits and expert evaluations by specialist civil engineers, i.e. geotechnical and hydraulic engineers from the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand. – SAnews
COPPER CABLE THIEVES NABBED
Transnet has welcomed the arrest of five suspects for allegedly being in possession of copper cable worth approximately R3 million at an unregistered scrapyard in Gauteng.
The arrest followed an intelligence-driven operation by a multidisciplinary team, which led them to a scrapyard in De Deur.
The team discovered large quantities of copper cable and seized homemade stoves, reportedly used to burn the copper. Preliminary investigations further established that the copper cable belonged to Transnet.
The five suspects will soon appear before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession of stolen infrastructure, dealing with second hand goods without a license and contravening the Immigration Act
In a seperate incident, 21 individuals suspected of critical infrastructure theft with an estimated value of about R350 000 were arrested on Monday at a Transnet depot in Swartkops, Gqeberha.
The suspects were found in possession of several bags filled with copper bus bars, transformers, electrical switches, copper cables and electrical cables. When Transnet security personnel at the depot spotted trespassers on the premises, they alerted the South African Police Service .
The Transnet Group Chief Executive, Michelle Phillips, applauded these arrests as a demonstration of the success of the collaboration between Transnet security personnel and law enforcement agencies. – SAnews
