Theft case of officials postponed to December
The arrests followed the protest actions led by the now defunct Mashishing Activist Forum when it staged two massive marches to the premier and to Absa Bank in May and June 2009, respectively.
LYDENBURG – The case involving the municipal officials accused of stealing R3,2 million from the Thaba Chweu Municipality has been postponed to December 12 and13.
The former officials Messrs Isaac Moshoadiba, Paul Mpele and Kgabo Moloto, appeared briefly in the Lydenburg Magistrate’s Court and were ordered to report to the court on the said dates.
The arrests followed the protest actions led by the now defunct Mashishing Activist Forum when it staged two massive marches to the premier and to Absa Bank in May and June 2009, respectively.
The court was attended by members of the public, who were also members of the forum. One former member of the forum, who was the mass organiser and is now a councillor at TCM, Mr Johannes Bhuti Nkosi, was among those in attendance.
One of the attendees said as a concerned resident he was happy that the state organs were acting when there was a concern about corruption and fraud.
“This should be a clear warning to all wrongdoers that corruption is intolerable in this country and that no matter how long it takes, the law will catch up with you.”
In a statement released by the Mashishing Civic Coalition, the successor of Mashishing Activist Forum (MAF), the coalition said it would step up efforts to ensure that all the allegations made in the past received attention from law-enforcement agencies. It reiterated its commitment to fight corruption and fraud wherever it raised its ugly head.
“We have made strides on this front and have to date opened more than three cases of fraud with the relevant law-enforcement agencies in Nelspruit. We will meet with the local station commissioner to discuss the alleged incompetence of some police officers who are not cooperating with us whenever we want to open cases,” the statement read.
