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By Tanya Waterworth, Duncan Guy, Samkelo Mtshali 
6h ago
DURBAN – There were a slew of court appearances across the country on Friday when surprise arrests were made of several high-profile individuals in connection with different multi-million dollar fraud and corruption cases.
On Friday afternoon he saw Durban’s top businessman and former associate of Jacob Zuma, Thoshan Panday, 48, in the dock at the Durban Magistrates’ Court alongside SAPS Colonel Navin Madhoe, 51 years.
The charge sheet also mentions former KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni, 52, and SAPS Captain Ashwin Narainpershad, 52.
The charges relate to a 47 million rand tender for temporary police accommodation during the 2010 World Cup.
The spokesman for the National Tax Authority Investigation Directorate, Sindisiwe Twala, said the charges include multiple corruption charges, while three of them face fraud and forgery charges.
In his court papers on Friday to support his bail request, Panday claimed he owned “real estate and four cars” in Plettenberg Bay, but did not mention their monetary value. He said he earned R20,000 a month which he used “to pay my ordinary expenses.” In addition, he affirmed that if I do not receive the bail, “my children and my family will suffer prejudice.”
Ravindra Maniklall, Madhoe’s attorney, said: “This is an old case dating back to 2010. It has been going on for 10 years. She has yet to lead her life, but this has come 10 years late.
“The colonel will plead not guilty. These are old charges that have been in the public domain for ten years … I’m sure you want to end this rather than have them hanging over your head unnecessarily. “
The State did not object to the bond.
Bail was set at R 100,000 for Panday and R 100,000 for Madhoe, and the matter was postponed until November 11.
On Friday evening, the Directorate of Investigations confirmed that they were in the process of locating Ngobeni and Narainpershad.
KZN Prime Minister’s Office Official Arrested
Meanwhile, at the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Friday, another official from the KZN Prime Minister’s Office and three service providers appeared for alleged bid fraud. The case is related to an R24m catering tender in which five other officials were arrested earlier this year.
KZN Hawks spokesperson Capt.Simphiwe Mhlongo confirmed that supply chain manager Nonhlanhla Pamela Hlongwa appeared alongside service providers Ashley Mervyn Rose, Ntombipela Majozi and Sybil Nompumelelo Motaung.
Hlongwa was granted a bond of 5,000 rand, while two of the service providers were granted 10,000 rand each and the third one 20,000 rand.
All four will reappear in April. In July, the five arrests related to the same tender included CFO Zipathe Cibane; the Prime Minister’s personal assistant, Nomusa Zwane; Sithembiso Msomi, Senior Administration Officer; the secretary of administration Njabulo Makhathini; and Gugu Kheswa, director of Phumulanga Communications.
Officials are alleged to have manipulated the hiring processes in favor of certain suppliers.
Lennox Mabaso, a spokesman for Prime Minister Sihle Zikalala, said that some of the officials had already been suspended and that the prime minister was committed to “good and clean governance.”
Asbestos tender fraud
And in Bloemfontein on Friday, the appearance of the seven defendants came after a week of great drama in which the Hawks and the NPA made a series of arrests when they swooped in three provinces in a case involving the auction of R255m asbestos in the Free State. .
Law enforcement agencies and the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) on Friday attached the properties of high-ranking politicians, officials and businessmen, valued at R300m, after the seven defendants appeared and were released on bail in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court. They received bail ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 rand after the arrest of six of the seven on Wednesday by the Hawks.
The charges included fraud, theft, attempted theft, corruption and money laundering, among others.
NPA spokesman Sipho Ngwema said Magistrate Mxolisi Saliwa took the ruling after the prosecution team did not object to the bail, but insisted that it be set at a high level given the seriousness of the crimes.
“The court released Edwin Sodi of Bryanston, Johannesburg, and owner of Blackhead Consulting, on a bail of 500,000 rand,” Ngwema said.
Sodi’s co-defendant, Nthimotse Mokhesi, head of the Free State Department of Human Settlements; Seal Radebe, businessman from Johannesburg; Thabane Zulu, former director general of the National Department of Human Settlements; and Olly Mlamleli, former MEC of Human Settlements of the Free State and former mayor of Mangaung, received a bond of 100,000 rand each.
Ngwema said that John Matlakala, director of supply chain management for the Human Settlements Department, and Abel Kgotso Manyeki, a businessman from Pretoria, were released with 50,000 rand.
They appeared with five companies, Blackhead Consulting, Diamond Hill Trading, 605 Consulting Solutions, Mastertrade 232, and Ori Group.
Independent on saturday
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