ANC MP Bongani Bongo’s fraud, corruption trial set to begin

African National Congress (ANC) MP and former state security minister, Bongani Bongo, and his co-accused are set to stand trial for fraud and corruption in the Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court on Monday.

R74 million land deal

Bongo and 11 other people, including four companies, are facing 69 charges related to fraud, theft, corruption and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in connection with a R74 million land deal by the Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements (DoHS) in 2011.

The state alleges that the accused conspired to inflate the prices of two farms that were purchased on behalf of the DoHS.

The former farm owners allegedly only received a portion of the funds paid by the state, with the remainder being pocketed by the accused.

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Bongo was a legal advisor at the department at the time of the land deal. He was part of a committee appointed by the then-head of the department to negotiate the purchase of the farms.

He is said to have recommended the appointment of Singwane Attorneys as conveyancers for the DoHS during the purchase of the two farms.

Singwane Attorneys allegedly paid Bongo R1 million through his wife’s business account and made deposits for two vehicles registered under his brother’s name, Sipho Bongo.

The ANC MP was arrested in 2020 and he was released on bail of R10 000.

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First land deal

According to the state, the first land deal is in connection with the R37.5 million sale and purchase of a farm in Naauwpoort, Emalahleni, by the DoHS, supposedly on behalf of Emalahleni Local Municipality.

“Some of the accused acting in concert with the common purpose, exploited the normal phenomenon of the purchase of land by the government by misrepresenting facts to the DoHS regarding the ownership and true sale price of the farm. The real owner of the farm, Petrus Johannes Van Tonder was paid R15 million for the farm from the R37.5 million.

“The balance of the money was paid into the trust account of Singwane Attorneys, in their capacity as conveyancers appointed by the department. Van Tonder paid R1.5 million commission to Pam Golding as an estate agent for the transaction.

“Singwane, not instructed by the department, paid R22.5 million to Little River Trading, which enabled the accused to successfully steal the money,” the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement.

Second land deal

In another transaction, one of the accused companies, Bongiveli CC, entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Fremax Farms for a portion of Rietspruit for an amount of R10.5 million. However, Msukaligwa Local Municipality, situated in the Gert Sibande District Municipality, valued the portion of the Rietspruit farm at R1.6 million.

“In March 2011, the Department of Human Settlement paid over R52 million to Singwane Attorneys. Subsequently, the law firm furnished Freemax with a guarantee of R15.6 million. The property was then transferred to Bongiveli from Msukaligwa Municipality and the company became the owner of the farm.

“The farm was sold back to DoHS for R32 million and fell out of Spatial Development Plan for the municipality and, therefore, not categorised for human settlement. To date, it has not been proclaimed as a township.”

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