Three Free State men accused of low-cost housing fraud arrested
According to Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Zweli Mohobeleli, the Department of Human Settlements appointed a service provider in May 2021 to build 47 foundations as part of the first phase of a housing project.
However, only 14 foundations were built.
'Over R1.1 million was paid to the service provider. However, it was later discovered that only 14 foundations were built, despite the department being billed for 47,' Mohobeleli said.
'A Hawks investigation into the matter pointed to a collaboration between the service provider, development officer, consulting engineer, and project manager. Evidence to this effect was presented before the prosecution, resulting in warrants for their arrest being issued.'
Serious Corruption Investigation detectives arrested the development officer, consulting engineer, and project manager, aged 44 to 59, in Bothaville, Welkom, and Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
The arrest of the service provider is imminent, according to Mohobeleli.
The men are scheduled to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court later on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News24
an hour ago
- News24
Three more people arrested in R300m West Coast shareholder fraud case
Three more people have appeared in the Vredenburg Magistrate's Court in connection with a R300 million shareholder fraud case, bringing the total number of accused to 10. Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Zinzi Hani said the unit's Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Bellville arrested Benjamin Burger Lubbe, 85, Nicolaas Jacobus Latsky, 77, and Petrus Van Eeden Marais, 64, for fraud, contravention of the Financial Markets Act and contravention of the Companies Act. They appeared in the Vredenburg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday and were released on R10 000 bail each. They will join their seven co-accused, who were arrested in May. The seven are Jacobus Francois Pienaar, 69, Andries Johannes Frederick Eigelaar, 75, Carel Johannes Hendrik Mienie, 56, Carel Johannes Daniel Eigelaar, 70, Meiring Tarrant, 55, Minette Louw, 44, and Albert Johannes Marais, 68. Among them are three lawyers, two auditors, directors and senior officials of associated accused companies. The seven are out on bail of R10 000 each. The case dates back to 2006, when the accused - majority shareholders - allegedly defrauded minority shareholders by manipulating share prices, causing a loss of an estimated R300 million, Hani said. All ten accused will appear in court again on 21 November.
News24
20 hours ago
- News24
Makhanda: The collapse of an iconic South African town
Makhanda's deteriorating municipal systems, including water supply, electricity, and road maintenance, have worsened. The municipality has faced consistent disclaimers of opinion from the Auditor General, highlighting severe financial mismanagement and unresolved corruption allegations. Once a significant economic contributor, the National Arts Festival has seen declining attendance, shows, and financial returns due to municipal neglect and infrastructure challenges. It was six days into the 51st annual National Arts Festival (NAF) in July this year, and yet there were no lights to welcome visitors entering the small city of Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) after sunset, according to GroundUp. Only the occasional shop front cast patches of light along High Street between Rhodes University's Drostdy Arch and the landmark Anglican Cathedral. It was not a temporary power outage, but a situation that would persist for the rest of the 11-day festival. Municipal reports indicate this was mostly due to cable theft. Historically, the main thoroughfares would be filled with buskers, traders, and festival-goers, but the dark streets were now almost deserted. A decade ago the festival attracted 225 000 people to watch more than 600 theatre shows. It's now a fraction of that. (The municipality's population is about 100 000.) Usually the Makana Local Municipality makes an effort to temporarily patch up its failures over the festival period. Not this year. Financial mismanagement The municipality has received disclaimers of opinion from the Auditor General (AG) since the 2018/19 financial year. Prior to that, it had received qualified audits. A disclaimer of opinion is the worst finding the AG makes. It occurs when the municipality's finances are so mismanaged that the AG cannot provide documents to support its financial statements and therefore the AG cannot form an opinion. After a crumbling reticulation system left residents and festival visitors without water for days on end in 2016, erstwhile festival CEO Tony Lankester publicly stated that the biggest threat to the festival's continuation was not the paucity of arts funding, but the municipality itself. Under a majority ANC council for at least 25 years, the city has steadily and visibly deteriorated. (This reporter lived there in the 1990s and has visited the town at least once a year for more than 20 years.) Streets across the city are awash with potable water leaks and sewage overflows. Potholes are so prevalent that even some main streets are now little more than corrugated gravel. Water rationing and outages continue. Electricity outages are common. Municipal buildings are derelict from a lack of maintenance. The festival has now shrunk to 242 shows, according to NAF spokesperson Sascha Polkey. Polkey did not supply visitor numbers, but patrons were visibly thin on the ground this year. In 2013, the festival brought R349 million to the province (about R460 million today), including R90 million to the city's coffers (about R159 million in today's terms). Last year it brought in R132 million for the province, including R58 million for the city, according to a report by the South African Cultural Observatory. Off grid Residents have been experiencing water outages since at least 2012. Yet the municipality is still not able to ensure a continuous water supply to the whole town. This is despite supply dams being full. The lack of a continuous and reliable water supply has forced large revenue-contributing institutions to seek independent supplies. This in the context of a municipality with a collection rate of less than 60%, according to opposition councillors. Rhodes University, which has about 9 000 students at its Makhanda campus and is the single largest ratepayer, is moving to make itself independent of the municipality's erratic water supply. 'A significant challenge facing the university is the unreliable water supply from the Makana municipality,' said deputy vice-chancellor Professor Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela at an alumni event on 3 July. 'The university is progressing plans to establish its own water treatment facility to process water from its borehole system,' she said, calling on alumni to assist in funding the initiative. The university communication office said it is also 'exploring renewable energy solutions'. Makhanda is home to three prestigious private schools. All have sought ways to provide a reliable water supply for their learners, staff and grounds. Managers at the Diocesan School for Girls and Kingswood College said most of the water they now use comes from their own borehole and harvested rainwater. Only St Andrew's College still predominantly uses municipal water, relying on its own supplies during water outages. Dry taps in the suburb of Tyantji may have contributed to 75-year-old resident Thandisizwe Nondlwana dying when his house burned down last month. Neighbours said they couldn't douse the flames as their taps were dry. Firefighters arrived too late. A senior firefighter told GroundUp, on condition he was not named, that the roads are so bad that it is difficult to get to an emergency in time. Teetering systems Makhanda uses about 18Ml (million litres) per day, municipal manager Phumelelo Kate said in May last year. The water is supplied from the Waainek Water Treatment Works (WTW) on the west side of the city, and the James Kleynhans WTW on the east. Retired water engineer Peter Sturrock estimates that the reticulation system has so many leaks that 28Ml needs to be pumped into the system per day for continuous, city-wide supply. As DA councillor Luvuyo Sizani put it: if you see the streets are wet, you know the water in that area is on; if the streets are dry, so are the taps. An upgrade to the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works, which abstracts water from the Glen Melville Dam on the Orange/Fish scheme, was announced as the solution to the city's water troubles in 2015. It was meant to double the treatment works' capacity from 10Ml to 20Ml per day by 2017. It is yet to be completed. The costs have ballooned from an initial R160 million to more than R700 million to date, according to Makana Citizens Front councillor Phillip Machanik. Sturrock said the most it has ever supplied was 16Ml per day when three pumps were working full time. But the pumps burned out, and there is now only one operational pump at the James Kleynhans WTW. Two rising mains – a pipeline through which water is pumped uphill – are required to deliver the 20Ml per day target. A second was built as part of the upgrade. But the original, which takes water up to the Botha's Hill reservoir above the city, needs to be fixed. 'Time and money ran out before that was done,' said Sturrock. Although Amatola Water is in charge of the James Kleynhans upgrade, the municipality is supposed to exercise oversight and be responsible for operation and maintenance. The municipality reported to council that there is only one general worker at the treatment works when there are supposed to be six. Drought and maintenance failures In December, at the height of summer, the Howieson's Poort dam, supplying the west side of town, came close to running dry. The system is designed so that when this happens, the dam can be topped up from the larger Settlers Dam, which lies in a different catchment and is fed by the Kariega River. But, said Sturrock, when it was attempted, with just a few days of water left in Howieson's Poort, valves along the pipeline burst. It had not been checked. The pipe and pump had not been used or maintained for years. Disaster was averted when good rains filled Howieson's Poort again. However, the pipeline and valves have not been fixed, so the same problem would occur if there is another dry spell of three or four months without rain. Missing pump The 8Ml per day Waainek Water Treatment Works (WTW), which abstracts water from Howieson's Poort Dam, is working at full capacity. But municipal reports before council show it only has one operational pump, running day and night with no backup. Sturrock says there should be three: two pumps working on rotation, and a third for when one of the pumps needs servicing or repairs. There is a second pump, but as reported at the municipality's infrastructural development portfolio committee meeting of 10 July, it is 'on limp mode' and requires repair. A pump worth R2.7 million was ordered from Manco Business Enterprise in East London in July 2022, and paid for, but it has never been delivered. The engineering and infrastructure director Asanda Gidana was dismissed in November 2023. One of the two charges was for unlawfully facilitating its pre-payment. Gidana disputed her dismissal at the Bargaining Council, which ruled in her favour on both counts, and ordered she be paid six-months salary, amounting to R635 000, as she did not want her job back at the municipality. It appears Gidana was an innocent scapegoat, as the chief financial officer, the municipal manager and other municipal employees recommended and signed that the payment should be made. The commissioner making the award, Mandlenkosi Mini, remarked: With neither the pump nor its installation and connection delivered, nor any money recovered, Makana Citizens Front councillor and party leader Lungile Mxube laid a charge of fraud and corruption against the mayor, municipal manager, chief financial officer and council speaker at the Makhanda police station on 20 June. The municipality did not respond to questions on this and other issues.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Denver woman's stolen flying machine returned home thanks to good Samaritan
DENVER (KDVR) — Not even 12 hours after telling one Denver woman's story on FOX31, the flying machine was returned by a good Samaritan who said he recognized it after seeing the news report. Erica Massey's doorbell camera saw it all this weekend. On Saturday, it captured her $8,000 paramotor stolen off the porch on Saturday. On Monday morning, however, a different story. Denver woman devastated after $8K flying machine is stolen from her porch 'I feel like I kind of saw the worst in people and then immediately the best in people,' said Massey. Against all odds, her paramotor made it home. 'Literally crumpled to the ground, I was in tears,' she said. Different tears from Saturday, thanks to Dominick Armstrong's desire to beat the heat at work. 'I watch the news every day because I have to dress for the weather,' said Armstrong. He said he saw a man dragging the box in a wagon near where he works for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, and when he got closer, he recognized the Fly Products logo mentioned in our story. 'I was already like, 'hold on, wait, let me see what's inside,'' said Armstrong. 'Showed me what was inside, and I automatically knew where it came from.' FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox He was able to wrestle the wagon away and went to Massey's neighborhood, knocking on doors until someone knew the right house. 'I wanted her to direct me and take me to the house so I could show the people what I had obtained,' said Armstrong. When Massey came to the door, Armstrong knew the paramotor was home. 'We need more people like that in the world,' said Massey. Of the two stories told by Massey's doorbell camera, Armstrong hopes the second leaves a lasting impact. Over 110 animals rescued from Northglenn home: Here's how you can help 'You don't have to touch or steal anything,' said Armstrong. 'All you have to do is go to work and obtain it the right way.' Massey said that everything is in good condition, but two parts, the propeller and a small bag, are missing. She said those are much easier to replace than the motor that was returned, however, and plans to get flying in the next few weeks. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
