dihlabeng municipality

Twitter / Mike Appel

Watch: Hawks arrest Dihlabeng municipality officials linked to tender fraud [video]

11 years later and the Dihlabeng municipality has yet to deliver houses to the Bethlehem community.

dihlabeng municipality

Twitter / Mike Appel

UPDATE: Reports suggest that the two officials have been released but have been banished from entering the municipality.

On Wednesday, well-known eNCA journalist, Michael Appel, posted a video on Twitter showing the Dihlabeng municipality acting manager of legal services and his attorney being placed under arrest by members of the Hawks.

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Why were Dihlabeng municipality officials placed under arrest?

These arrests, according to reports, were in connection with the Vogelfontein housing project, in Bethlehem, Free State, that has been stalled for more than a decade.

The housing project was launched between 2007 and 2008, with the view of relieving a huge backlog of people in need of proper structures.

According to Appel, the initial construction partner that was brought on board to see the project through was let off in favour of a firm that was allegedly linked to Ace Magashule’s daughter, Thoko Malembe.

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Also, it is understood that the area marked for development was to undergo a basic infrastructure installation process before the houses could be built

Appel discusses the case in more detail in this eNCA interview.

Magashule linked to Vogelfontein housing project scandal

It is alleged that R19-million was budgeted for the inclusion of water and electricity in the area in 2015. However, looking at footage of the area, it is obvious that the money was not used for its intended purpose.

Moreover, as reported by the Huffington Post in March 2018, Magashule, who at the time of the project’s launch, was the Free State premier, allegedly had his hands deep into the R150-million project.

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Unital Holdings is the name of the company that Malembe, as far as we know, held a 30% stake in.

Since it came on board, not much progress was made in completing the housing project with all the necessities installed for the poor to enjoy comfortable living.

Instead, it is alleged that the housing project was awarded to ward councillors who, in turn, distributed houses to their close friends and family networks.

The video footage below shows the two unidentified members of the Dihlabeng municipality being placed under arrest by the Hawks.

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Watch: Hawks move in on two Dihlabeng municipality officials