Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Limpopo prosecutor, his wife, site manager and 14 “ghost workers” arrested in connection with R900 000 tender fraud appeared in the Makhado Magistrate’s Court on Friday and were granted bail.
Moyahabo Nelson Matheba, 55, a prosecutor at the Vuwani Magistrate’s Court, his 34-year-old wife Nkhangweni Patience Mudau, Thembalethu site manager Mulalo Judith Baloyi, 39, as well as 15 others are facing counts of fraud, money laundering, forgery, and uttering.This follows their arrests by the Hawks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Limpopo National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said allegations were that, between 2016 and 2021, the NPO Thembalethu was awarded a tender by the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to clean the Makhado area.
Mudau and Baloyi allegedly recruited their friends and relatives as employees of the Community Workers Programme (CWP). The investigations revealed that the workers never set foot in Makhado to perform the duties, but were paid R2 540 each month.
Limpopo prosecutor, wife, and 14 ‘ghost workers’ arrested over R900 000 tender scam
According to Malabi-Dzhangi, R979 000 was accepted as salaries from Cogta through CWP for work that was not done.
It is alleged that the 15 ghost workers each received salaries of R2 540 a month, but only took R1 500 before giving the rest to Matheba, Mudau and Baloyi.
The State did not oppose bail in the matter. The court heard from the investigating officer that the accused, who are South African citizens, were cooperating, that they were not flight risks, and that their residential addresses were verified.
As a result, the court released them on bail ranging from R1 000 to R5 000.
“Conditions of the bail are the following: they must not leave the country of South Africa. When they leave the province, they should inform the investigating officer.
“They must not interfere with the State witnesses directly or indirectly [and] they should report to their nearest police station every Monday,” Malabi-Dzhangi said.
The matter returns to court on 28 June.
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