MBOMBELA – The manager of the local municipality is not too worried about the criminal charge brought against him.
Mpumalanga police spokesman Col Leonard Hlathi says Mr Noko Seanego was asked to come to the Mbombela station on Friday where he was arrested for fraud, before appearing in court. “He didn’t give us any trouble.”
Seanego told Lowvelder ahead of his appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court that he hadn’t brought his lawyer. “I am representing myself. I don’t think there is a case.”
Yet when the magistrate entered, lawyer Mr Mandla Macbeth Ncongwane spoke on his behalf.
Seanego was appointed municipal manager on December 1. Before his appointment he was the general manager of corporate services at the Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM).
According to Hlathi the charge is related to the process of appointing specialised security officers in October.
As a result of the allegations that ANC cadres were placed in positions without being interviewed and that the names of the positions were changed from by-law enforcers to suit the candidates, some of whom allegedly didn’t meet the minimum requirements, community services employees laid a criminal complaint and staged two protests that same month. Following the protests 35 MLM employees were suspended.
Mr Cyril Chuene, a member of the provincial executive of the EFF has since pushed for a resolution. “The EFF has emerged again. We are South Africans’ voice. The case against Seanego was opened in October last year. We’ve pushed for quick prosecution and proved ourselves.
“Our commitment is to unveiling the truth as it is our mandate. If we gain exposure in the process, that’s an extra advantage.”
In court, prosecutor Mr Danny Sibiya requested that bail be set at R2 000 and that the case be postponed for further investigation. The defence did not object and Seanego was released the same day.
Chuene said they were disappointed that bail was set so low. “It is not enough, compared with the magnitude of the case.”
Seanego’s next appearance is scheduled for February 19.
