Senior Eastern Cape government official, businessmen who tried to bribe cops with R3.5m appear in court

The bail application against a senior Eastern Cape government official and two businessmen arrested over bribery allegations has been postponed to Tuesday.

Eastern Cape chief director of Community Safety and Liaison, Neil Naidoo, and his co-accused – Kenny Govender and Mathew Pillay – appeared before the East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday after their arrest at the weekend.

The trio was arrested on Saturday by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate (ID) and the Eastern Cape South African Police Service (Saps) anti-corruption unit in connection with bribery allegations linked to investigations into a national South African Police Service (Saps) furniture tender valued at over R36 million.

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Charge sheet

According to the charge sheet, Govender and Pillay – who are the beneficial owners of KJP Traders (Pty) Ltd – were awarded a contract to supply furniture to various service points of Saps for a period of two years.

However, it was found that the furniture was of poor and substandard quality.

KJP Traders allegedly submitted letters from manufacturers of quality office furniture when they bid for the contract in their documents. But it was found that the company did not buy the furniture from these reputable manufacturers as allegedly misrepresented in their tender documents.

The men are accused of attempting to bribe two investigating officers with R3.5 million in order to “make the case go away” against them.

According to the spokesperson of the ID Sindisiwe Seboka, Naidoo stands accused of initiating the talks between the police investigators, Govender and Pillay on 12 March 2022.

In an undercover operation in which the investigating officers carried recording devices, Govender and Pillay allegedly agreed to pay them a sum of R3.5 million by 5 April 2022.

“They stand accused of paying R1.8 million over to Naidoo on 14 April 2022, who allegedly took R300,000 for himself and delivered R1.5 million to the undercover police officers. The remaining amount was to be paid at a later date,” Seboka said in a statement.

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