At last, Hawks claim first scalp in anti-graft fightback

The Hawks yesterday claimed its first scalp in its fight against corruption with the arrest of former state security minister and member of parliament Bongani Bongo, with 10 other high-profile arrests following soon.

Bongo had been arrested for 13 counts of corruption after he allegedly offered an evidence leader a bribe to derail the Standing Committee of Public Enterprises Inquiry into the affairs of state-owned entities in 2017.

“This is the first tangible evidence the Hawks are ready to start acting against people,” Institute for Security Studies consultant Johan Burger said. “This is the first small sign things are starting to happen.

“Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya (acting head of the Hawks) told me they were in the process of investigating a few high-profile politicians and other officials, and expect to act against them quite soon.”

Burger said some investigations included the VBS Mutual Bank scandal and cases mentioned at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

Bongo’s arrest and subsequent release on R5,000 bail came hard on the heels of yesterday’s news that former crime intelligence (CI) boss Richard Mdluli would be charged with fraud over the CI slush fund, following the declassification of decade-old documents.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke told The Citizen yesterday the NPA was poised to tackle a number of other high-profile cases, but declined to give details.

The Hawks, Crime Intelligence, and SAPS detectives rounded up 10 more suspects yesterday in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

“The operation followed a complaint by National Treasury that the suspects allegedly colluded in accessing the Amathole district municipality funds after they were awarded a contract for ventilated toilets in the Eastern Cape,” Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangweni Mulaudzi said.

“The Hawks’ investigation showed more than R600 million was to be awarded for the contract, of which R286 million has already been paid to the suspects.”

Ntandazo Vimba, CEO of the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent, was among the 10 expected to appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court today on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

His arrest was confirmed by Lungi Mtshali, spokesperson for Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

According to AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative journalism, the NPA had seized bank accounts and property belonging to Regiments Capital directors Litha Nyhonyha and Niven Pillay, and former director Eric Wood.

“Regiments – a firm deeply implicated in state capture – ‘stole’ R349 million in four days while acting as the fund’s manager, it tweeted yesterday.”

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said she had been informed by Bongo he would be appearing in the high court yesterday.

“He did not disclose what the matters were,” said Majodina.

Hawks investigators have their work cut out

The Hawks’ 1,700 investigators, some of whom are helping the Investigative Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), are working on almost 19,000 cases with over 15,000 accused on court rolls in March.

They have also recently referred more than 1,800 cases relating to serious offences to the NPA. However these cases’ success also depends on the capacity of the NPA.

And head Shamila Batohi told parliament recently, the NPA’s insufficient funding, high vacancy rate and an exodus of senior prosecutors, had “a major impact on the delivery of services”. – Johan Burger, Institute for Security Studies.

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