Former police officer sentenced for illegally occupying state house in Welkom

A former warrant officer in the South African Police Service (Saps) was this week sentenced for illegally occupying a Welkom property that belongs to the state.

According to Free State police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng, 66-year-old Manie Richard Williams had been collecting rental payments from tenants at the property since 2018.

Police property illegally occupied

Thakeng said Williams, who is a pensioner, received R75 000 in rental payments from five tenants, despite the police’s efforts to remove him from the property.

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On Wednesday the Welkom Regional Court sentenced Williams to four years in prison for two counts of fraud.

Thakeng said the sentence was suspended for four years “on condition that the accused is not convicted of fraud, theft, or attempted theft during the suspension period”.

Williams was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

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The former police officer was arrested after a case of fraud was opened in May 2023 when it was discovered that a house, on Fischer Street, Dagbreek, Welkom, that belonged to the Saps had illegal occupants in it.

Thakeng said Williams was apprehended in June 2023 and granted bail of R1 000 on 3 July 2023.

Covid Ters fraud

Meanwhile, 44-year-old Lelokonyana Isak Letseng appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday for alleged fraud related to the Covid-19 Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (Ters).

“It is alleged that a company known as Bophelo Botle Solutions (Pty) Ltd owned by Letseng applied for Covid-19 Temporary Employment Relief Scheme (TERS) online during the period of March 2020 and December 2020, on behalf of individuals who are alleged to have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said police spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo.

Bophelo Botle Solutions allegedly received nine payments totalling R800 000 from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

Singo said an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) at the Department of Employment and Labour discovered that the Ters applicants never worked for Bophelo Botle Solutions.

Letseng was granted R5000 bail and the case was postponed to 15 May 2024.

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