Seven soccer officials appeared in courts in Polokwane and Bloemfontein on Thursday after being arrested during the police crackdown on football match-fixing.
Bernard Ditshego, David Sadike, Amos Mlambo and Thamaga Mokgopi were charged with corruption involving an amount of R24Â 000 and a game between Silver Stars and Manning Rangers on May 2, a Polokwane District Court official said.
They were granted bail of R1Â 000 each and will return to court on July 27.
Police arrested the first three men on Wednesday and when they went to the holding cells to take them to court they were suprised to find Mokgopi there too, Senior Superintendent Selby Bokaba said. Mokgopi had handed himself over to police at 3am.
Meanwhile, Free State Stars owner Mike Mokoena and retired referee Herman Nkuna, who was connected to the Vodacom League, appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
They were also charged with corruption and were granted bail of R5Â 000 and R2Â 000 respectively. They will reappear in court on August 4.
Bokaba said Free State Stars official Bereng Kholoane had also been taken to court, but the outcome was not yet known. This left only four more people to be arrested — three in the Free State and one in Gauteng.
Twenty-nine soccer officials have been arrested so far in Operation Dribble, the investigation into match-fixing and corruption requested by the South African Football Association. — Sapa
Soccer refs ‘didn’t sleep at home’