Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) employee accused of accepting R160 000 bribe from Digital Vibes, claimed that the money was for healthcare products she sold.
Lizeka Tonjeni is on trial in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on one count of corruption. She pleaded not guilty.
She was appointed as the project manager of a R3.9 million contracted MISA awarded to Digital Vibes in 2018 and, while working as the project manager, received R160 000 from Digital Vibes. The State alleges that the amount was a bribe to further Digital Vibes’ interests.
After pleading not guilty on Thursday, the State led the evidence of Lesego Bokaba, the assistant director of risk management at MISA.
Bokaba testified that Tonjeni did not have approval to carry out remunerative work outside of her workplace and that she did not disclose that she earned money outside of the public entity.
However, Tonjeni’s attorney said it was her version that the MISA CEO was aware that she did work for Digital Vibes and that this was equivalent to disclosure and approval.
However, Bokaba remained resolute that the CEO’s knowledge could not be considered as approval or a disclosure.
The lawyer also told the court Tonjeni sold healthcare products and that the CEO was one of her clients.
He also stated that the payments were deposited into her personal bank account because it was too expensive to maintain a company bank account.
But Bokaba, who previously said employees could not have relationships with service providers, maintained that Tonjeni did not have approval to do work outside of the state-owned entity.
The trial continues.
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