The five suspects were served with a court summons earlier this week and face charges of fraud, corruption and the contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Picture: Supplied.
CAPE TOWN – A former mayor of George in the Southern Cape will appear in court soon along with four municipal officials in connection with a R9 million fraud and corruption case.
The five suspects were served with a court summons earlier this week and face charges of fraud, corruption and the contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
They are expected in the dock in October.
According to the Hawks, the former mayor allegedly offered work to a company on a planned project long before it was registered with the George Local Municipality.
He is further accused of colluding with the municipal manager and senior employees in the municipality’s community services department and appointed other associated companies to complete work under the War on Waste project in 2017.
These service providers allegedly received payments long before the project was formally registered, or a project budget allocation was made.
About R9 million was paid between May and December 2017 and several gratifications were paid to officials allegedly involved in the form of cash payments, holiday accommodation and donations for school functions.
The matter was reported to the Hawks for investigation in 2018 after one of the company directors reported fraudulent and corrupt behaviour.
This was apparently due to the failure to deliver on promises made to the companies after the relationship between the former mayor and a councillor allegedly turned sour.