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A former executive director of the water board is in court for alleged corruption.
- Former Lepelle Northern Water Board CEO Phineas Legodi, Bid Evaluation Committee Chairman Gwako Moseamedi, and businessman Matome Sefalafala were arrested by the Hawks over the weekend in connection with a bid fraud.
- They appeared before the Polokwane Magistrates Court on Monday, facing charges of fraud, alternately theft, forgery and pronouncement.
- The case was postponed until Thursday to request bail.
Former Lepelle Northern Water Board Executive Director Phineas Legodi, bid evaluation committee chairman Gwako Moseamedi, and businessman Matome Sefalafala appeared before the Polokwane Magistrates Court in connection with a bid fraud totaling of 45 million rand.
All three were arrested by the Hawks over the weekend and their court appearance Monday was brief.
According to the spokesperson for the National Prosecution Authority Sipho Ngwema – Legodi, Moseamedi and Sefalafala, together with Falaz General Trading and Construction (Pty) Ltd, face charges of fraud, alternatively theft, falsification and pronunciation.
Legodi faces an additional charge for contravention of the Public Finance Management Law.
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“It is alleged that in 2018 the North Lepelle Water Board announced a tender in Limpopo province for the collection, disposal and disposal of hazardous waste management in 2018.
Accounting
“Legodi was the CEO, an accounting officer for the Lepelle Northern Water Board, at the time,” Ngwema said.
“Based on the recommendations of the bid evaluation committee, chaired by Moseamedi, and the Bid Award Committee (BAC), Legodi appointed Sefalafala’s company, Falaz General Trading and Construction, to provide services.”
They will return to court on Thursday, December 17, 2020 to request a bond. The defendant would remain in custody until then, Ngwema added.
In August, the Mail and tutor reported that Legodi was suspended pending an investigation into alleged mismanagement in the entity, a month after the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, appointed an interim board.
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Legodi resigned after being placed on preventive suspension.
Sisulu previously told SABC that the Lepelle board had been embroiled in a controversy over the rising costs of a Giyani project.
