Hawks arrest Nelson Mandela Bay official, businesswoman for alleged tender graft

The Hawks arrested a senior Nelson Mandela Bay metro official and a businesswoman for fraud in early morning operations on Friday.

Hawks spokesperson Lwando Zenzile said the official allegedly accepted a bribe of R900,000 from the contractor in exchange for a housing tender.

The alleged collusion happened between December 2014 and March 2015, Zenzile said.

“We arrested the municipal official at 4.45am at his home and proceeded to the businesswoman’s house and arrested her at 5.30am. They are due to appear at the Port Elizabeth Special Commercial Crimes Court this morning,” Zenzile said.

One of those arrested is reportedly the metro’s acting municipal manager Mvuleni Mapu.

It was reported that two more metro officials have been arrested.

The DA’s Eastern Cape leader Nqaba Bhanga has said the party welcomes Mapu’s arrest.

Mapu’s arrest by the Hawks supports the DA’s stance that he is a deeply compromised and corrupt individual. The DA maintains that our sustained pressure over many years has proven to be a contributing factor to his downfall and we believe that this is just the beginning of his troubles.

“Under the DA-led government, numerous allegations of corruption led to Mapu’s suspension as director of housing delivery.

“In May 2019, the ANC-led coalition of corruption reinstated Mapu and nine other suspended officials after pushing through a council decision to bring back controversially suspended officials. Mapu was subsequently appointed as the acting City Manager in spite of disciplinary charges against him and a dark cloud of controversy which has hung over him for years.

“It is clear that the deeply compromised Mapu was reinstated by the ANC-led coalition of corruption to further facilitate the ongoing looting of the City’s coffers.

“The DA strongly opposed his recent appointment as acting manager and have raised our concerns with regards to this to the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (CoGTA), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Eastern Cape MEC for Cogta Xolile Nqatha and National Treasury.

“The DA has been vindicated in its fight to bring Mapu to justice and we will not stop until all corrupt cadres are removed from the municipality’s administration and face the full might of the law.

“Two other NMB municipal officials were apparently also arrested by the Hawks today, although the charges relating to their arrest are unclear,” said Bhanga.

(Additional reporting, Makhosandile Zulu)

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