Mackay, the now head of the Department of Public Works in the Northern Cape, was nabbed by the Upington-based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit on Friday morning.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in the Northern Cape, Mojalefa Senokoatsane, the former municipal boss was handcuffed for crimes he allegedly committed between September 2021 and March 2022.

“It is alleged that the accused, as the accounting officer of the municipality and as the official responsible for the overall financial affairs of the institution, unlawfully failed to pay in full the Consolidated Retirement Fund for Local Government (CRF).

“Namely: any contribution which, in terms of the rules of the fund, were deducted from employees' remuneration and any contribution for which the employer was liable in terms of the rules of the fund,” said Senokoatsane.

SAMWU calls for the prosecution of such criminal acts

Samwu expressed relief over the news and stated that accounting officers will not have anywhere to run to but will have to face the music for their actions.

“As Samwu, we have always argued that the failure by municipalities to pay statutory deductions not only prejudices municipal workers but is also a criminal act that should be prosecuted.

“Many municipalities in the Free State, Northern Cape, and North West Provinces have made it a norm to deduct monies from workers’ salaries for deductions such as pension funds, medical aid, and funeral policies but that money never reaches the intended recipients,” said Samwu general secretary, Dumisani Magagula.

Mackay made a brief appearance at the Upington Magistrate’s Court on the day of his arrest and made bail of R5000. He is facing 271 counts of contravening the Pension Funds Act.

Conviction on the charges

Senokoatsane said if Mackay is convicted, he could be fined any amount not exceeding R10 million or he could potentially face 10 years' jail time or be sentenced to both.

He is scheduled for his second appearance on 25 November 2022.

Magagula said the union is satisfied that the Hawks are clamping down on such crimes and added it highlights the offences many accounting officers persist on committing.

“We, however, do not want to see this as an isolated prosecution, and as such, we encourage the Hawks to spread their investigations into all provinces, in particular the Free State, Northern Cape, and North West provinces as there are many municipalities in these provinces that have made it the norm to pickpocket workers,” Magagula added.

The union will be approaching the Hawks with a list of all municipalities wherein workers’ pensions and medical aids are in arrears.

The Citizen