Former mayor, officials allegedly linked to R9m George municipal fraud case

A former mayor and four municipal officials have been summoned to appear in court in connection with a R9 million fraud case.

The five people, who are linked to the George local municipality, have been served with the court summonses to appear in the local magistrate’s court on charges of fraud, corruption and the contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act, Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase said.

According to Nkwalase, the former mayor allegedly offered work to a company on a planned project before it was formally registered with the municipality.

“He further colluded with the municipal manager and senior personnel within the community services department of the municipality and appointed other associated companies to do work under the ‘War on Waste’ project in 2017,” said Nkwalase.

These service providers allegedly received payments before a project budget allocation was made to the tune of around R9 million, paid between May 2017 to December 2017.

“A chain of gratifications [was] allegedly paid to the officials involved in the form of cash payments, holiday accommodation and donations for school functions,” said Nkwalase.

The Hawks began investigating after one of the company’s directors reported the matter in 2018, when the relationship between the mayor and his councillor allegedly turned sour, resulting in broken promises to the companies involved, said Nkwalase.

The accused will make their first court appearance on 9 October.

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