Riyaz Patel
Ten people arrested in connection with corruption, fraud and money laundering charges relating to a multimillion-rand toilet project at the Amathole District Municipality are due in the East London Magistrate’s Court Friday.
“The operation follows a complaint by the national Treasury after it transpired that the suspects allegedly colluded in accessing the Amathole District Municipality funds through the flaunting of procurement processes. Afterwards, they were awarded a contract for ventilated, improved toilets in the Eastern Cape,” Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said in a statement.
Mogale added: “The Hawks’ preliminary investigation discovered that over R600m was to be awarded for the contract, of which R286m [ was already] paid to the suspects.”
The arrests were made after a multi-disciplinary team, which included Crime Intelligence and SA Police Service detectives, conducted several raids across the country, including in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
