The former municipal manager was arrested on Tuesday by the Hawks, together with the 39-year-old former Chief Financial Officer. Sanco spokesperson, Paul Sebotgoe, tells OFM News that the arrests were made at their Pretoria residences after they had allegedly contravened the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) by investing R230 million's municipal funds belonging to the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality with Venda Building Society (VBS) Mutual Bank.  He adds that the suspects were charged with corruption, money laundering, and the contravention of section 173 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) when they appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.

“The objective to restore good governance and confidence in public institutions was severely compromised in the choice of an individual shrouded in corruption allegations. This turnaround of events could indicate that the said official may not have been adequately experienced in provincial education administration, hence over R200 million of the infrastructure grant was underspent under his leadership,” says Sebotgoe.

Sebotgoe decried the fact that a possible looter was deployed to the province and the department with the biggest budget, without vetting clearance, as the exercise could have flagged the arrested suspect as a risk.

He adds that the communities in the North West Province cannot afford another looting spree, which denies them quality services.

“The 57-year-old former municipal manager, who was deployed by the DBE as an administrator at the North West Provincial Education Department, was arrested on Tuesday by the Hawks, together with a 39-year-old former chief financial officer (CFO) from Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality in Limpopo, as well as a 41-year-old owner of a private business,” adds Paul.

He concludes by saying that “the Special Investigating Unit and the Hawks were said to have set their sights on corrupt tenders in which billions were lost and, in some instances, no service or goods delivered while the suspect was overseeing the running of the affairs of the department.”

OFM News