The state reiterated its initial stance today, February 25, in the case involving nearly 40 people who were arrested in connection with a multi-million rand Mpumalanga education fraud investigation.

Two groups of suspects entered the dock in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court to apply for bail, and the accused in the first group of 12 were granted bail amounts ranging from R20 000 to R50 000.

After the first group was escorted back to the holding cells, a second group of 11 was brought in for individual bail applications.

At this point, the state prosecutor addressed the magistrate and pointed out that, despite the millions of rands involved in the matter, all of the suspects were “pleading poverty”.

She posited that each of them would have benefited from no less than R1m and recommended that bail be set at R50 000.

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Following this, Magistrate Patrick Morris granted each individual in the last group bail of R50 000.

The accused, including multiple service providers and nine government officials, were arrested after investigations revealed that hand-picked companies were appointed to repair schools at inflated prices, with some payments made despite no work being done.

The amount involved is said to be more than R110m. They face charges of theft, money laundering, corruption and fraud.

The matter was postponed to March 26 for further investigations.