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- Seven defendants implicated in the controversial rand 255 million Free State asbestos contract received bail of between Rand 50,000-500,000 in Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Friday.
- More arrests are expected in the matter, according to the NPA.
- The asset forfeiture unit would also be working to recover R300 million lost through the contract.
Seven defendants implicated in the controversial rand 255 million Free State asbestos contract were released on bail in Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Friday and more arrests are expected.
The defendants are the former head of the human settlements department Nthimotse Mokhesi, the supply chain officer Mahlomola Matlakala, the businessman Edwin Sodi, the Seal Joseph Radebe, the director of the ORI Group Abel Kgotso Manyeki, the former municipal manager of Msunduzi Thabane Zulu and former Mangaung Mayor Olly Mlamleli.
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The seven, including four companies, are charged with a total of 60 counts related to fraud and corruption according to the crimes in table five. Sodi was granted bail of 500,000 rand, the highest bail in the group.
Matlakala and Manyeki were awarded 50,000 rand each, and the rest were released on bail of 100,000 rand.
The case was postponed until November 11.
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The spokesman for the National Tax Authority (NPA), Sipho Ngwema, said he was satisfied with the amount of bail set by the magistrate in the matter.
“It shows the seriousness of the infractions, R500 000 reflects what has been happening in the case and we are happy that all of them”, agreed the court [their case] it is serious and therefore they have to demonstrate seriousness when paying that type of amounts “.
Ngwema added that up to three more arrests related to the case could be made.
Appear
“When they appear [again] On November 11, we hope that there will be more defendants on the charge sheet. “
Ngwema said the prosecution speaks to the high potential for a successful conviction.
“You will notice that what we are trying and doing now is spending more time investigating rather than filing an arrest and then investigating once people have already been arrested.
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“The accusation means that we are ready to go to court even tomorrow because there are 60 charges there, it is clear, it is concise, there is no doubt about the case of the State, even the magistrate mentioned today that there is a prima facie case.” based solely on charge sheet. “
Ngwema further explained that the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) would be working with the asset forfeiture unit to recover R300 million of the funds lost in the R255 million asbestos contract.
“This means that they have to take property from the home, cars and any other realizable property that helps to make sure that you get back what was lost to the state,” he said.
Ngwema added that the difference in amounts relates to interest earned by the state, if the money had stayed with the state. He added that this would be calculated on many properties, including in Bloemfontein, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
