LUCAS LEDWABA
FORMER Lepelle Northern Water Board CEO Phineas Kgahlisho Legodi and five co-accused are set to endure another weekend in police holding cells after their bail application was postponed in the Polokwane Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Three more accused were added to the charge sheet alongside Legodi, chairperson of the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC), Gwako Micheal Moseamedi and businessman, Emanuel Matome Sefalafala.
The trio are Gangashe Gumani, Chokolo Mpho and Mhlongo Vusi.
The accused face charges of fraud, alternatively theft, forgery and uttering.
Legodi faces an additional charge of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.
Legodi, Moseamedi and Sefalafala were arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (DPCI) last weekend.
Mhlongo, Gumani and Chokolo were arrested during the course of this week.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the Lepelle Northern Water Board allegedly advertised a tender in Limpopo for the collection, removal and disposal of hazardous waste management in 2018 during Legodi’s tenure as CEO.
It is alleged that based on the recommendations of the BEC, chaired by Moseamedi, and the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC), Legodi appointed Sefalafala’s company, Falaz General Trading and Construction, to render services.
The swoop on Legodi and others follows a clean out of water board management across the country by Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu.
Sisulu appointed an interim board led by Joe Mathebula after firing Legodi and his board earlier this year.
“Things started rolling when the interim board came in,” Sisulu told a recent gathering to launch a sand water extraction project in Sekhiming, Limpopo.
Mathebula said the community was satisfied with the Lepelle Northern Water’s efforts and that the project should be duplicated in other villages.
The accused are expected to appear in the Polokwane magistrates’ court to apply for bail on Monday 21 December.
(SOURCE: INSIDE POLITICS)