Linda Mti granted R20k bail

Former Correctional Services commissioner Linda Mti arrived at the Pretoria central police station at around noon on Thursday to hand himself in. After a short court appearance, he was granted R 20 000 bail.

Mti faces charges at the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court related to the irregular awarding of tenders to facilities company Bosasa.

Mti, who was reported to be in the Eastern Cape earlier this week, was expected in court at around 11am on Thursday morning.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that Mti’s representatives agreed he would hand himself over.

This follows a court appearance by former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi, alongside five other co-accused on Wednesday.

Agrizzi and his co-accused, who were arrested by the Hawks on charges related to a 2009 Special Investigation Unit report, were granted bail of R20,000 each.

A leaked draft charge sheet listed Mti as accused number one, with former Department for Correctional Services CFO Patrick Gillingham, former Bosasa official Andries Van Tonder, and companies Sondolo IT and Phezulu Fencing – both Bosasa subsidiaries – as his co-accused.

The case was postponed to March 27, with all the accused instructed to hand over their passports.

The high-profile arrests followed a marathon investigation.

R1.6 billion is said to have been misappropriated in the tender processes for the procurement of various services by the department of correctional services.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.