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The problem was that the land was not suitable for housing.
FILE: Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee Bongani Bongo. Image: GCIS.
JOHANNESBURG – Documents filed in Nelspruit Magistrates Court describe how exactly African National Congress (ANC) deputy Bongani Bongo and his co-defendant allegedly spent the allocated money to purchase land for housing.
The problem was that the land was not suitable for housing.
It is alleged that the defendant later wove an intricate web to pocket some of the money.
Eleven people and four companies have been charged with 69 counts of fraud, theft, money laundering and violation of the Public Finance Management Law.
They have all been granted bail of R10,000 each.
Documents filed at the Nelspruit Magistrates Court show an intricate web of looting by the 15 individuals and companies.
The State said they exploited the government’s purchase of land and used law firms to misrepresent facts to the National Department of Human Settlements about the true ownership, prices and use of the land.
In one transaction, the department paid R52 million to Singwane Attorneys, who were acting as transmitters and were now for one of the defendants.
The law firm gave the Freemax Farms landowners a guarantee of 15 million rand and the property was transferred to another defendant Bongiveli, who became the owner of the land, at least on paper.
Later, Bongiveli sold the land to the department for R32 million.
Bongiveli not only sold land that did not belong to him, but the land was not even suitable for housing, so it could never be used for that purpose.
Each of the players allegedly received bribes or a portion of the stolen money, including ANC Bongo’s brother Joel, who allegedly received various payments of R300,000 as deposits to buy cars.
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