Politician and business man in court on corruption charges
HOD, Thulani Sibuyi, GNT security, Mashaba, Hawks, Paul Ramaloko, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, department of safety, security
NELSPRUIT – A local politician and a businessman implicated in a massive Hawks-investigated corruption case, has appeared once again in court. On Monday the community safety, security and liaison HOD, Mr Thulani Sibuyi and GNT Security owner Mr Vusi Mashaba both appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on charges of fraud and corruption totalling a whopping R7 billion.
The case was postponed to November 13 due to Sibuyi’s defence attorney being out of the country. Both men were out on a bail of R50 000.
Hawks spokesman Capt Paul Ramaloko said Sibuyi and Mashaba were both arrested earlier this month. The latter was charged with allegedly using an apparent fraudulent tax-clearance certificate, worth about R4 million a month ,when he applied for the tender.
“No more arrests have been made as yet, but more are to follow as there is a total of 18 companies involved,” Ramaloko confirmed on Monday.
He said the Hawks began an enquiry after local businesses had complained about security contracts awarded to certain companies in 2011 that were still continuing.
According to Ramaloko, GNT Security had apparently not qualified for an advertised tender, yet Sibuyi had allegedly granted it the tender award, knowing full well that the company was apparently not up to standard for it. He said Mashaba also was apparently implicated in having a fake tax-clearance certificate.
