Three former chief justice employees appear in court for R225 million corruption charge

Three former Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) employees appeared before Palm Ridge Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning facing corruption charges linked to a R225 million tender.

Colonel Katlego Mogale of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) explained that the trio—former spokesperson and chief director of court administration Nkosikhona Mncube (52), Casper Coetzer (58) and former case management director Yvonne van Niekerk (46)—who owned ZA Square Consulting—were placed on the Hawks’ radar in June last year following a forensic audit after a R225 million tender by a UK and Canadian-based company; Thompson Reuters was awarded to ZA Square in May 2022.

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“The audit discovered that the trio failed to disclose their ownership of ZA Square Consulting when, in December 2022, [they] expressed interest in being sub-contractors. 

“They formed part of the tender awarding committees at OCJ, knowing their conflict of interest. The audit revealed that the trio was in contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Activities Act and the Public Administration Management Act, thus referring the case to the Johannesburg-based Serious Corruption Investigation for in-depth probe.”

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A search and seizure operation was conducted by the Hawks that August at the trio’s premises, where electronic devices were confiscated for investigation. 

Postponed

Mncube, Coetzer and Van Niekerk made a brief appearance in the Palm Ridge Magistrates Court where they were granted R10 000 bail each and their case was postponed to 7 February 2024 for disclosure.

The Provincial Head of Hawks in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa applauded the investigation team for the meticulous exploration of the case and encouraged them to ensure a successful conviction.

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Corruption

Last week, it was revealed that the Hawks have made 33 arrests from the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

The Hawks briefed parliament on progress made since the last state capture report was handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa last year.

The Hawks established a task team comprising 20 “experienced” investigators to prioritise the investigations emanating from the state capture commission in November 2022.

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