The new charges were also brought against a former head of the department, Patience Mercia Mokhali (60), as well as Babereki Consulting Engineers and its director, Tshegolekae Motaung (59). The NPA spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane, says the accused are facing several charges including fraud, money laundering, corruption, and contravention of the Engineering Professions Act, relating to tender fraud at a Kimberley mental health facility.

Senokoatsane says it is alleged that Babereki Consulting Engineers was fraudulently awarded a tender as a structural and civil engineer, as well as project manager for the mental health hospital construction project in 2003. “The accused, as the political head, and Patience Mercia Mokhali, appointed Babereki Consulting Engineers, whose director is Tshegolekae Motaung, even though the company did not meet the requirements.” The amount involved is believed to be R51 million.

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Block appeared virtually as he is currently serving 15 years imprisonment at Upington Correctional Services for an unrelated corruption conviction. He will be applying for bail for these latest charges on 1 August. His case has been remanded to 10 August for further investigations.

Block’s criminal activities made headlines in 2016 when he and Christo Scholtz were convicted of corruption and money laundering by the Kimberley High Court. Scholtz was director of Trifecta Holdings, which was awarded multimillion-rand property tenders by Northern Cape government departments from 2006 to 2008. The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the money laundering charge.

SOUTH AFRICA | John Block former Northern Cape Public Works MEC and ANC Chair has been re-arrested at the Upington Correctional Services

He was arrested earlier this morning by the HAWKS and he will appear in court later today pic.twitter.com/JB9jRBV3KG

— Junior Mendieta (JM15)???????????? (@maetsebane) May 30, 2023

The Assets Forfeiture Unit was granted a confiscation order of more than R6 million in respect of the profit Trifecta acquired from six lease agreements it got corruptly. It was also granted a confiscation order of more than R53 million regarding an added advantage gained since there were no competitive tender procedures followed when the leases were awarded. The NPA has confirmed that money will be returned to the National Treasury.

In 2020, Trifecta Holdings was once again summoned to appear before the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court. It was alleged that the company paid a senior practitioner in facility management and auxiliary support at the South African Social Security Agency R60 000 between 2009 and 2010.

Lindiwe Sisulu, former Minister of Tourism, says she was shocked that the prison did not allow her or others to see Block, who she described as a relative. The department replied that no member of the public can be denied an opportunity to visit an inmate, in line with the prescribed procedures outlined in the Correctional Services Act.

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