EVANDER – The fraud charges against the four men who were arrested by the Hawks for allegedly hacking into the Govan Mbeki Municipality’s computers were provisionally withdrawn pending further investigation at the Evander Regional Court on Friday, 18 October.
In the Ridge Times article of 25 October, “Court acquits four men”, it was reported that the men were acquitted.
Mr Sihle Mabuya (28), a municipal official of the information technology section, and Messrs Charles Mabe (32), Bonga Sithole (36) and Sikhakhane Sibeko (43) were charged with the theft of R2.6 million and the attempted theft of more than R30 million in March.
Mr Medupi Simasiku, regional manager of the National Prosecuting Authority Communications, said the provisional withdrawal is as a result of further investigations that are still underway.
He said the docket will be returned to the prosecutor for re-consideration on the matter once the investigation is finished.
The men were never asked to plead.
The Hawks said after their arrest that the municipal official apparently installed a device on the municipality’s computers to monitor passwords and transactions.
A bank official informed the municipality about the transactions and the account was subsequently frozen.
