Magistrate kholeka bodlani

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Free State officials accused of R244 million corruption released on bail

The authorities said they first got wind of suspicious activity in a bank account when they were investigating the Estina Dairy farm case where millions which were meant for aspiring black farmers were funnelled into Gupta-linked bank accounts

Magistrate kholeka bodlani

Photo: Adobe Stock

Five former and current officials at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Free State have been released on R10 000 bail each.

The suspects appeared before the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Tuesday, 18 August 2020, to face charges of corruption, money laundering and fraud to the tune of R245 million.

The group was nabbed over millions which were paid to a company called Superior Quality Trading, which also trades as Rekgonne Community Projects.

Free State corruption, fraud and money laundering

The authorities said they first got wind of suspicious activity in a bank account when they were investigating the Estina Dairy farm case where millions which were meant for aspiring black farmers were funnelled into Gupta-linked bank accounts.

Their names are: Lerato Mngomezulu (39), Disebo Masiteng (59), Mokemane Ndumo (52), Mahlomola Mofokeng (55) and Mbana Thabethe (54)

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the first four were members of the bid evaluation committee, and Thabethe was the head of the department.

“It is alleged that they gave a number of contracts to a company called Superior Quality Trading, which also trade as Rekgonne Community Projects, even though this company did not attend compulsory briefing sessions”, the NPA said in a statement.

“The company also had a certificate of attendance even though it was not present at the compulsory briefing where these certificates were issued. The department is said to have paid more than R756m to the company”

Meanwhile in the same court, the department’s former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sylvia Dlamini as well as the director of Superior Quality Trading, Lenah Mohapi, were also granted bail of R10 000 each after appearing in the beginning of July 2020. The pair is considered the key suspects in the saga.

Mohapi is said to have paid huge sums of money into Dlamini’s account. These payments were disguised as Refund Telkomsa and Medical services, authorities say.

Their case was postponed to 10 September 2020.

“The five will be joining the others in September at the high court and will collectively face 58 counts of forgery, uttering, fraud, corruption, money laundering and contraventions of PFMA,” the NPA further added.