Official nabbed for allegedly hiring out Joburg city halls for cash

An official appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for alleged corruption after being accused of hiring out City of Johannesburg community halls in exchange for cash.

According to Captain Lloyd Ramovha, Mbuso Sithole, 29, who is based in Naturena, south of Johannesburg, was arrested on Tuesday, 25 October 2022.

The arrest follows a complaint received from the City’s Group Forensics and Investigation Services (GFIS).

“The Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation commenced swiftly and laid bare the modus operandi of the accused through a sting operation where he was caught red-handed with R750 cash given to him for a booking. It appears Sithole has been taking money meant for bookings/hiring of the City of Johannesburg, Braamfontein halls for himself since after Covid-19 regulations were relaxed,” said Captain Ramovha.

“It has further been established that Sithole is not authorised to receive any money for the hiring of any facilities. Instead members of the community who wishes to hire facilities are expected to electronically do so and provide proof of payment upon approval.”

Sithole was granted R1,000 bail, and the case was postponed to 10 November 2022 pending further investigation.

RDP corruption

In a separate incident, Valencia Makgopa, 43, and Motlalepula Prudence Mahadika, 42, on alleged theft, fraud and corruption charges arising from a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) house sale that never materialised.

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According to Captain Ramovha, around June 2017, the two women allegedly approached an unsuspecting victim with promises of securing her an RDP house around Mogale City.

The victim was allegedly told to deposit R60,000 into Mahadika’s account in order to ensure a rapid transaction. After the payment was made, the pair from Kagiso in the West of Johannesburg allegedly vanished.

“The case was reported at Kagiso police station in 2018, and thereafter referred to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team for further probing. Following completion of the investigation the docket was presented to the Directorate for Public Prosecutions (DPP) which in turn issued warrant of arrests for the pair,” said Captain Ramovha.

On Saturday, 22 October 2022, in the early hours of the morning, the investigators arrived unannounced at Makgopa’s hideout in Diepkloof, Soweto and arrested her.

She has since appeared in the Kagiso Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

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Mahadika meanwhile was arrested today in Kimberly by a dedicated Hawks team based in that province. Both are expected to be reunited at the scheduled court appearance on Monday.