Councillor and service provider appear on fraud charges
An Eastern Cape councillor and a local service provider have appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud and money laundering.
CAPE TOWN, April 22 (ANA) – An Eastern Cape councillor and a local service provider have appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud and money laundering.
In a statement released late on Wednesday, provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said its Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team arrested Councillor Mthetheleli Crosby Kolela, 58, and Noxolo Maureen Tshaka, 49, of Sbu’s Catering and Cleaning Services on Tuesday.
Mgolodela said it is alleged that in December 2019, Tshaka was awarded a sponsorship of R1.2 million (about US$84,000) from the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) to organise and host a 40th celebration event of the Phakamisa residential settlement in King William’s Town.
The event was set for December 13 to December 15, 2019.
Mgolodela said it is alleged that during the process of selecting a service provider for the event, Kolela, who was not only the councillor but also a member of the sponsorship committee, never disclosed that he personally knew Tshaka and the conflict of interest in the matter, as is required by the sponsorship policy.
He allegedly motivated awarding the sponsorship to Tshaka, Mgolodela said.
Mgolodela said it is alleged that on December 13, 2019, R840,000 in cash was paid by BCMM to Tshaka’s company, of which she was the sole director.
It has been alleged that the following day, Tshaka transferred the money from her business account into the Phakamisa community account in which she was the signatory.
On December 19, R544,783.80 was withdrawn from the community account and handed over to Kolela and in February 2020, BCMM paid the last tranche to Tshaka’s business account in the amount of R360,000.
Mgolodela said it was community members who brought this case to the Hawks after they became suspicious as the event itself was of a poor standard and not worth the budget they knew was allocated towards it.
She said the pair were granted R2,000 bail each and are expected back in the same court on May 31 for their trial.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher