.png)
CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR
SEVEN ACCUSED FACE 46 COUNTS IN R144 MILLION MUNICIPAL LAND FRAUD AND R100 MILLION SOCIAL HOUSING SCHEME
MAHIKENG, NORTH WEST – Seven accused; Hendrik Smith, Petrus van der Merwe, Barbra van der Merwe, Sarel van Niekerk, Brian Moholo, Tshepiso Moholo and Reggie Mutsi, appeared before the Specialised Commercial Crime Court, sitting at the Molopo Regional Court, on Thursday, 22 October 2026, and Friday, 23 October 2026.
They face a total of 46 counts, including corruption, fraud, contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act and money laundering.
The court appearances followed their arrests on 22 and 23 October 2026 by members of the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation and Crimes Against the State units.
It is alleged that, between 2007 and 2009, Accused 1 and 2 acted in common purpose to defraud the Mafikeng Local Municipality through an unlawful sale agreement involving municipal land valued at R144 million.
The agreement required the purchaser to pay the full purchase price. However, only R5 million was paid, leaving an outstanding balance of R139 million.
The R5 million payment was allegedly made under an unauthorised agreement involving the accused and other parties. The municipality was allegedly unaware of, and had not authorised, this arrangement. The partial payment was allegedly part of a scheme to amend the original sale agreement and reduce the purchase price of the land.
In February 2009, the land was transferred after Accused 1 lodged an application with the Deeds Registry in Vryburg. The transfer allegedly proceeded despite the outstanding balance and without the required municipal authorisation.
It is further alleged that, between 2011 and 2013, Accused 2 to 7 participated in a scheme to defraud the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) of more than R100 million, using the land acquired through the alleged fraud.
Accused 5, who was the SHRA Chief Executive Officer at the time, allegedly facilitated and authorised the process through which the funding was obtained. The accused allegedly applied for more than R100 million in social housing funding, purportedly to build social housing units in Mafikeng.
Investigations allegedly revealed that the intended housing units have not been completed. Instead, only structures were erected, allegedly to conceal the scheme’s true purpose. The SHRA suffered financial prejudice exceeding R100 million.
All seven accused were granted bail. Six were granted bail of R10 000 each, while accused 5, Moholo was granted bail of R5 000. The matter was postponed to 07 December 2026 for further investigations.
KASiBCAFRiCA©®™ NEWS • AUDIO • VIDEO • SPORTS • EVENTS • TOURS • STORES
The application form will open in a new browser tab.
No comments:
Post a Comment
KASIPEOPLE