The mayor of Mangaung, his wife and five other people charged with theft, corruption and fraud will return to the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to continue their bail application.
The Scorpions arrested mayor John Pappie Mokoena; his wife, Granny; city manager Mojalefa Laplole; chief operating officer Mzwandile Silwana; speaker Zongezile Zumane; and Mokoena’s political adviser Jacob Thithi on Monday on charges that include corruption, theft and fraud involving at least R100-million.
George Finger, who is not a council official, was arrested in Johannesburg.
Scorpions spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said they appeared in court on Monday but no agreement was reached on their bail.
The state wants bail set at R100 000 each.
The arrests follow a raid at the offices of the municipality last month, during which the Scorpions confiscated documents, computers and electronic data.
”[Monday’s] action follows a Scorpions investigation into allegations [of criminal misconduct] relating to the affairs of the Mangaung local municipality, councillors, employees and their associates,” Nkosi said on Monday.
”The people we have arrested this morning are alleged to be masterminding and/or aiding the commission of fraud and corruption and other offences.”
African Christian Democratic Party spokesperson and city councillor Hendrik Minnie said on Monday he did not wish to pre-empt any possible verdict, but that the African National Congress could have prevented the embarrassment of the arrests if the party had been stricter when the mayor was found guilty of nepotism, ”and his smallholding popped up in reports on a department of agriculture project”.
”We have been silenced in council too often by shouting when we wanted more information on matters that did not seem to be too sound,” Minnie said. — Sapa